Complete and Unconditional
by Personification of Fluff
Summary: MS: Sequel to 'Dressing Wounds'. [Completed] Now that Naraku has been defeated, Sango and Miroku have to overcome their next biggest trial: marriage. Anything has to be easier than defeating, Naraku, right? Right?
1. The End

Complete and Unconditional

**Title:** Complete and Unconditional

**Author:** Personification of Fluff

**Rating: **R, to be on the safe side, because of potty mouths and making out

**Summary:** Continuing my experimentation with ways of writing and approaches to timelines, etc, I decided to pull a Quentin Tarrentino, or at least as close as I can come to that man's genius timelines. The introduction to each chapter takes place in the "present" of the story, and everything after the introduction is the flashbacks Sango and Miroku are experiencing as they reflect upon their life together.

The story, really, has very little plot, or at least nothing that I can say right now without ruining the surprises I have along the way. The story just outlines some of the trials and happy times that the two have experienced and overcome together, things like creating the demon slayers, or having children and raising them.

But first, ::grins:: I figured that we should have a moment of Kagome and Inuyasha fluff, because they play quite an important part in Sango and Miroku's future, and we should all know how they got together too, shouldn't we? Pardon me, however, for any Kagome and Inuyasha lovers, as this brief explanation is hardly sufficient.

But can I kindly point out that this isn't a Kagome and Inuyasha story, now is it? -

**Enjoy the MS fluff, everyone! ::hugs everyone::**

You have no idea how happy you make me, do you? ::purrs::

Chapter One:

The End

I can still remember all the details as if it were yesterday. Now that I am older, and lying here on my mat, staring up at the ceiling, it seems as if all the events of my marriage to Sango happened like a chain reaction, though I know that was far from true. At the time that all these events were happening, things were spread far apart, and at times it seemed like a lifetime would pass before Sango and I would ever get to marry.

First, there was the issue of the jewel. That, however, is a subject that my dear friend Kagome should explain. After the defeat of Naraku, during the time of healing when we mourned over the loss of Kouga, how the shards were ripped from his shredded remains, Kikyo, and to Kagura, whom none of us knew that well, but we all respected once we had discovered that she was causing as much trouble for Naraku as we were. We had wounds to heal, poisons from which we needed to recover, and before all of us were ready to make way for Kaede's village, Kagome was already holding the shard, asking what it was that she needed to do with it.

* * *

Even as I held the jewel for the first time, the question of what to do with it was more important than anything else in my mind. It was more demanding than the fact that we had finally beat Naraku, than the question of how badly injured I was. I was more aware of the little shard in my hand than I was of the blood still leaking from my body. I felt like I was in a daze, and I didn't snap out of the daze until we had taken over the mansion of Naraku's and Inuyasha and I sat in the kitchen.

He was bandaging my wounds for me, and when he accidentally touched me a bit too hard, I yelped.

"Sorry," Inuyasha apologized, his gold eyes down and his ears twitching.

"It was only an accident," I consoled, patting his head, as it was the closest thing to me at that moment. My hands brushed his ears, and we both went red. I pulled my hand back, and closed my eyes, thinking about the jewel. As hot as the topic had raged earlier, now I found myself thinking about Inuyasha. With my sense of sight momentarily gone, it felt like all my others were enhanced. I could feel the calluses of his hands and the tips of his claws touching my side gently, feel his hair cling to mine, and his strong scent wrap around me. All in all, it was comforting. I felt safe; the topic of the jewel could wait.

But as comforting as it was, I wanted to say something. I wanted… I _needed_ to reach out, and touch Inuyasha again. His fingertips finished affixing the medicinal tape, and I thought he was going to leave. Instead, his knuckles brushed my skin, and he moved in a little bit closer. Slowly, his hand flattened up against my side, and slid around to my stomach as he moved around to my back. I leaned into his touch, my back coming up against his bare chest. His own cuts were already bandaged, but I still heard him wince when I leaned on them a bit too heavily.

"Sorry," I whispered.

"It was only an accident." I think he was smiling.

I touched the hand laying on my stomach, running my fingers overtop of his. My other hand lay on his knee, playing with the worn fabric of his hakama. I sighed, contentedly, knowing that for half a second, everything had been perfect and that no force in heaven or hell could ever take that from me. "Inuyasha… have I ever told you that I'd really like to touch your ears again?"

"Again? When did you ever touch them in the first place?" he demanded.

"Ah… when you were still nailed to the tree?" I wondered why I'd made it sound like a question. "I couldn't help it. They were just so cute, and I'd never seen someone so good looking with puppy-ears before. I wanted to see if they were real, and they looked so soft…"

Inuyasha growled, and the sound echoed into my chest. I'd never heard anything so primal before sound so… pleasing. I cherished the way it echoed into me, the way his lips came close to my ear when he tried to be ferocious, the way his hand tightened against my stomach and the warmth that came from it. "Listen, wench, my ears are not _cute_, they're… manly."

"But they're still soft," I pointed out. "Can I touch them again? Please?"

He nodded. I turned around, sitting on my knees so that I could reach them. His hand went to fall from my stomach, but I pulled it back so that it lay on the small of my back. I didn't focus on his face, because I didn't want to know how he was reacting to my touch. What if he didn't like it?

I reached out, and ran the tip of my finger along one of the edges. My thumb did the same thing on the other side of his ear, and they met at the tip. There, I went down the back, scratching lightly at its base. I did it a second and a third time, and then my hand slipped down to glide through Inuyasha's silver mane. That's when I looked at him. Whatever emotion I was expecting to see in his eyes, it wasn't what I did find. Inuyasha was happy. He was smiling gently, and from the way that he was staring up at me, I knew that I was the one that was the cause for his smile.

Stopping, I settled back down again and took his hand off my back. Looking at him, I found I knew what I had to do. "We've defeated Naraku," I said simply, still wondering at that remark.

"No duh, wench," he growled back. I was about to hit him or sit him for that comment, but it was excusable. We were all still tired from battle, and he had—astonishingly—said it with a smile. Inuyasha was happy. He enjoyed fighting with me, didn't he? For all that I sat him, or the looks he got from us when he said something stupid, he enjoyed it—and hated it too—that I had this power over him which, in a way, made me stronger than him. It must have been the demon in him that enjoyed the fact that he had found somebody who could keep him from doing something dangerous or who punished him for being an idiot.

And in a way, it was kind of flattering.

Oh, but he hated it too. He hated that I had this power over him that kept him from trying to protect me at times, or that punished him when he didn't understand why he needed to be sat, or that got really pissed off at me when I did it accidentally.

"Close your eyes, Inuyasha," I said softly. He stared at me like I was crazy. That particular expression was very hard for some people to do, but I love how expressive Inuyasha was. No matter how far away from him you were, you could still see those gold eyes looking straight at you. "Inuyasha," I repeated. I gave up. Maybe somewhere during this journey, I had become able to understand Inuyasha.

I think I have been for a long time, it was just so stressful, though…

My fingers gently clasped the rosary he wore around his neck, his white hair hiding my arms from me as they disappeared around the back of his neck. Slowly, I lifted the rosary from his body, careful not to get the beads caught in his long silver hair. Inuyasha's gold eyes stared at me, shocked, and looking so painfully nervous that I wondered if maybe I had been wrong and he wanted the rosary left on. It… it was actually a little _weird_ not seeing the rosary on Inuyasha any more. I set it down on the table, and Inuyasha was silent.

I looked back up at him, trying to smile even though I was putting my heart—maybe even more than my heart—on the line. Oh, I trusted Inuyasha. I had for a very long time. For all of his words, all of his hurtful remarks, he had never once physically hurt me. He was always there to protect me, I just didn't trust myself. What if I had always been reading too much into things, what if… Oh, shut up, Kagome!

"Kagome…"

I pressed my fingers to his lips, waiting for him to act. I wanted Inuyasha to act, not to speak. I wanted him to grab the jewel and run away with it, reach out and strike me and call me an idiot, or to take me in his arms and never let me go. God, I wanted him to _hurt_ me because I knew that it was next to impossible for me to stay in the feudal era. If he hurt me, I could run away and nurse my wounds in the future and never see him again, and if he held me and kept me stitched to his side, I would be prevented from ever leaving him and I would be happy…

God, I'm such a foolish dreamer!

He touched my hand, pulling it away so that he could speak. He held my hand, and I clutched the jewel. His gold eyes looked purer than I ever had seen them look before. Inuyasha looked almost hurt that I had taken off the rosary. He opened his mouth, but he couldn't find anything to say. There was no calling me a stupid human, no exultation…

"Say something stupid," I growled.

"What?"

"Say something stupid so that I an hit you for it and not feel guilty and you'll still see that I… Oh, fuck it." I placed the jewel in his hand, and pulled his hand down. I wrapped his fingers around it before I folded my hands in my lap, sitting back down. My voice was almost bitter and indifferent, my words were definitely curt. I didn't know why I was acting like such a bitch at the time. But now I know that it was because I had always fantasized that Inuyasha would rejoice at how much I trusted him, and he would kiss me and I would know that he really did love me. I didn't need him to ever say it, just a kiss would be enough… a kiss that he didn't end up denying when it was over.

"You wanted the jewel. It's yours now."

His hand opened, and he stared at the jewel a moment, then looked down at me. "Kagome…" He glanced briefly at the jewel again. "What am I supposed to do with this?"

I shrugged. "You wanted to become a full demon, didn't you? If that's still want you want, the jewel is yours and you can become a full demon."

Silence. I spun around in my chair. My voice softened, and my eyes fluttered back and forth from the ground to his face, too prideful to meet the ground and too shy to look at his face and see his reaction.

"But before you decide to change yourself, you should know… that I love you." I blushed, and looked down at the floor, my eyes trying to look up at him so I could see his reaction, but the rest of me was too afraid. "I love you just like this: as a half demon, with silver hair, and gold eyes, and… manly dog ears. I love you when you have black hair, and brown eyes, and you hate yourself when you're like that and I wish that I could show you what I see when I look at you. I don't know what you'll look like as a full-demon, but I'll love you anyway, as long as you continue being brave, and strong, and you keep on trying to protect the little person, even though you pretend you're too macho for it."

He stared at me like I was crazy. No doubt he was trying to process what I had just admitted to him. It was more than a little confusing, wasn't it? My heart beat calmed a little bit. "I just thought that maybe you might like to consider that fact before you decide to use the jewel."

Inuyasha stared a moment longer at the jewel, and then he slipped the jewel back into my hands. He touched my hair gently, like he expected me to bite him away. "I already knew that you love me. I overheard you say it once, but I never wanted to ask you about it in case it had been a spur of the moment announcement and you… didn't mean what you said. I didn't know that you loved me… because of all of that."

"Oh, I don't." I said with a grin, touching his face lightly. I smoothed out his bangs for him, clutching the jewel tightly. "I love you for more than that. I just… love you for being you. Inuyasha…"

I had been planning on asking him what we should do now that he didn't want to use the jewel, but instead he leaned down, his lips covering mine and stopping any of my questions. I was taken completely by shock, so I didn't move. I didn't even close my eyes… I _know_ I didn't close my eyes, but for the life of me, I can't remember anything but how it felt. It felt… nice.

He pulled away, and I worried about what I was going to say. Inuyasha took that weight from me, though. He smiled at me. "You have no idea how long I have wanted to kiss you again," he sighed, slowly straightening back up, though he still stared at me.

Shaking my head, I gently touched my lips, still trying to come to grips with the idea that he had just kissed me. "I liked it."

I couldn't say anything else beyond that. I couldn't seem to say that I wanted him to do it again, that I had wanted to kiss him for a long time, that I thought his kiss was sweet. However, my few words seemed to be enough, and the life in his gold eyes was overflowing. "If you don't want to be a full-demon, what do you want to do, then?"

The response I received was deadly simple. "I want to be with you." His hand was placed on my shoulder, and he looked a little sad. It was times like these that I had to remember he wasn't always the bull-headed knight he was in battle. There were times when he was sweet, and when he was uncertain… it seemed that self-confidence was a trait with which demons also had trouble. Then again, if I had been an outcast for most of my life, and then I had found someone who loved me and happened to be a reincarnation of someone who killed me, then I would be a little shy and wary too.

"Good. I want to be with you too. But, Inuyasha, how are we going to do that? I mean, there are so many ways. I can't travel between times without the Shikon jewel, and that has to be destroyed. I can't allow what you and Kikyo went through to happen to anyone else, and I can't allow good, innocent people like Kohaku to be taken over by a single shard. The jewel needs to be destroyed."

He blinked in surprise, understanding from my words what I was implying. "You… you want me to stay here?"

Sad, I nodded.

"But... why in the hell would you want me to do that?" Now he was angry, which was understandable. It was always in the little ways that I always hurt Inuyasha, when I told him that he didn't need him to protect me, when I fought with him, confused him… sat him. "That's stupid! Look, Kagome, in case you haven't figured it out, there are going to be demons in your time too, and somebody needs to be there to look out for you! I can understand you not wanting to leave your family, but how can you just leave our friends?"

"I can't! I mean, I don't want to, so I'm trying to find a way not to, but I can't do it alone! What, Inuyasha? Do you want me to stay here with you? Inuyasha, I would love to, but I can't do that either. It's not just that my family is there, it's that my _time_ is there!" He was confused, and my anger began to diminish. I softened my voice. "Inuyasha, I love it here, and I love our friends. I could do a lot of good things here, with the things I know, but I could do a lot of damage too, and that's what concerns me. How long until I do something that could disrupt the timeline… if that kind of thing is even possible. I'd rather not take the risk and find out. Besides, I am still a priestess, jewel or not. Like you said, Inuyasha. The moment the Shikon jewel came into the future, there were demons ready to take it, and without me to watch over my family, how can I save them? You've seen Grandfather's spells. I love him dearly, but they don't work. It's time the Higurashi shrine had a priestess again." I looked up at him slowly. "I had my chance with you in this time when I was Kikyo. And I blew it. But I'd like to have my chance with you in the future."

He was quiet for a long time. "That's something that always bothered me. How come you're a reincarnation of Kikyo, but you trust me so much? Even when I start becoming more demonic, you always trusted me. Sometimes I wondered if you were even unafraid of me when I became like that."

"At first I was really scared. It wasn't the physical things that scared me... those were a little disturbing, but what really bothered me was just how you acted. It was you, you were still _you_, you were just… the other you. Look, one of the people from the future suggested that everybody has three sides. One is the person that they show to the world. The other one is a mediator, like your conscious, that negotiates between the part of you that is aware and the part of you that is unaware. Then there's the dark part, the shadow self. It's the part that no one wants to acknowledge, but that everyone has to beat if they want to know themselves completely. The things that you show when you're a demon, like laughing when you kill, that's the dark side. What scared me was how deep that side of you goes… because I'd never seen it in anyone before. It probably goes just as deep in me, and Sango, and Miroku. Even in little Shippo.

"But I still trusted you, because I've seen the good parts of you, and to have a shadow self that's so deep, you have to have an equally matching good side of you. You would think that because of what happened in my last life that I might be less trustworthy of you, but it's the other way around. I trust you explicitly. Right from the moment I met you, I thought you were a good person. I thought you were a _jerk_, but I thought you were a good person. In fact, if you hadn't tried to kill me, I think that I would have warmed up to you a little quicker. But even then, you didn't hurt me. And you never have." My voice was almost perfectly still as I added, "Not even when I was Kikyo."

He was quiet, contemplative, and eventually his arms wrapped around me, and held me in a hug. I could still remember the last time he gave me a hug. I like his hugs. His body was nice and warm, his touch enough to make me feel secure and not trapped. It was Inuyasha who asked the question that was plaguing my mind. "So what are we going to do?"

"I was thinking about it a lot. One question I have is, how fast do you age? If you age like a full demon, you could stay here. Someone needs to protect the village, the shrine, the people, and I can't ask Sango and Miroku to do it because they are going to start up the village again. Shippo needs someone to watch over him. What else are we going to do with him? Pass him down from kid to kid in Sango's family like an immortal pet? I would have asked Kou… Kouga-kun, but I can't anymore. And if you don't think that you could fall in love with anyone else, then you could stay here, and I'll be in the future waiting for you. Of course…"

"I age like both of them, Kagome. Maybe slightly more demonic because that part of me is stronger than the human, but it still isn't slowly enough when you think about it over five hundred years. By that time, Shippo will be in his early twenties, but I'll be… forty, maybe sixty, somewhere between there. If I don't die first. It's taking a lot of risks, don't you think?"

Nodding in agreement, I snuggled closer to him, my worries smoothed over by the sense of touch. "I agree. Which means that there's another choice. We have to use a wish to purify it, right? But it's supposed to be a selfless wish. I want to wish that we could travel back and forth between the well. I want to be able to see Sango and Miroku and Shippo whenever I want. I want to see Kaede. I want to hold Sango and Miroku's kids. I'd like to have kids one day, and I would like them to meet our friends here. But will a wish like that purify the jewel? Nor did I know if you wanted to come and live with me in the future or not."

"Then there's all the other questions, like what to do with my looks. There are demons in the future, but not many." He paused, and this time I knew that he was smiling. "Maybe that means that Sango and Miroku will have lots of success at rebuilding the school, and the bad ones like Naraku will all be dead. They'll have more kids than rabbit demons, those two."

Quieting, he was very slow to suggest what he was thinking. "Kagome, I don't know how much of a wish we can make. But if we can make a large one, I will wish to become human. I'll look like one of them, age like one of them, heal like them. Even if wishing we could still travel back and forth isn't a selfless wish, maybe that one would work." I looked up at him, and he was being completely serious. "I would, Kagome. I'd do it for you, if you wanted me to. It might be our only chance."

Reaching out to him, I cupped his cheek in the palm of my hand, thinking about it. What would it be like to do this when he was human? Would he feel differently? How long would it take me to realize that he was going to be human three hundred and sixty five days, for the rest of his life? What would it be like to never see those gold eyes looking at me again, flashing at me and reminding me of all the times he was my knight in… well, my knight in fire rat armor.

How long would it take Inuyasha to realize he couldn't be foolhardy, how long to make him feel weak and pathetic, and a shell of the man I love? If he were human, I would still love him. The problem is, would he love himself?

I shook my head violently. I couldn't allow him to do that. If it meant that I could never go to a fancy dinner with him, I would do so. Instead, I would make something and light candles on the table and around the kitchen, and play soft music. If I couldn't go with him to the movies, I wouldn't care. We'd rent. We'd rent a lot of movies, and make flavored popcorn, and cuddle under a throw rug. It wasn't that I didn't like his human form, because I loved it, as it was a part of him. I simply couldn't allow him to become something he hated.

"I'm not Kikyo, Inuyasha. Half-demon, demon, human, I'll always love you. I don't want you to become anything. I would never ask that of you. I… Think about it, Inuyasha. Think about what you're giving up here, and what life will be like there. That's all I'm asking of you."

I wanted to move out of his grasp, but he wouldn't let me. Instead, he held me tighter, and he did think about it. I could all but hear the whirring of his mind as he thought about his friends, and me. "I know what it would be like. I'd be with you. So I'd be happy."

I sniffled. I hadn't expected so quick a response. I didn't need Inuyasha to tell me how he felt. Everything he said and did told me. He loved me. That's why he was willing to physically change himself, why he was willing to move to a whole new time. My family loved him too. I burst out laughing when I thought of how Souta would react. I leaned up and kissed him again, throwing my hands around his neck. "I love you, Inuyasha."

He grinned in response. Gripping me gently, his mouth covered mine, his lips brushing mine, and this time I eagerly responded. Holding the jewel tightly as my other hand brushed his hair, feeling the silver strands slide easily between my fingers. Damn his hair, I don't think that his hair ever tangled. At that moment, I made the wish that would purify the jewel. Maybe it was selfish, but as I made it, I felt the jewel grow hot, and then it vanished in my very hand.

I wished that we would all be together. Not Inuyasha and I, but _all_ of us. The people that had fought Naraku. I wanted to see Shippo grow up, to meet Kagura's incarnation and apologize for ever having to call her an enemy, to see the children of two of my closest friends, to see the boy that Kohaku could have been.

It wasn't fair that what could have been wonderful was ripped apart by something so insignificant as hatred, jealousy, lust, and a little jewel. It's ironic that it was so vile a man that had ended up bringing us all together, because without Naraku, we never would have met. Maybe our love and friendship were the good… that had come out of the bad.

If that was the case, then I could never allow a love that had overcome so much, felt so much, and encompassed so many people….

I could never let something like that die.


	2. Party Time

Complete and Unconditional

AN: I don't know why I am updating today… probably because this keeps me from studying… I can't believe the crap I have to read through… oh well.

That, and because updating is fun. And 15 reviews for the first chapter. Aw, it makes me feel like I can take on anything!

….Including going through 73 pages of notes to study for a mid term!!

Snow-Queen1: Worm? That's from 'Hercules', right? I don't want worms (though worms are pretty cute and that Mr. Worm from 'James and the Giant Peach' was pretty cool!), but if you want, you can be my minion! You get wings! And I will be the first to admit that there is a fluff overload within the first few chapters.

Fireblade: This chapter and the last chapter of Dressing Wounds go hand in hand, so Sango and Miroku are, theoretically, off wrapping up each other's wounds. Other than, I predict they will be cuddling and he will have fun groping her with his new hand.

Lily: If you liked the last chapter, wait until you see what else I have up my sleeve! Albeit it not all of it realistic, but if I may so…. There has never been a canon story like this that I have seen.

Demon Exterminator: Next, chapter, I swear!

Aamalie: You eat like I do. And see… look at me update.

Siren: Man… what does everybody have against Inu and Kag? ::recalls some of the fics she has read:: Oh yea…. ::wince:: Mine aren't like that… I swear…

Blood Red: I was uber proud of the last chapter. Almost as proud as I am of the second last chapter of this fic…

Bizle: Sequels are my… um, what's it called when you have the overwhelming need to write sequel after sequel?

Hoshinko: Thank you for your review. - As I said in the last chapter, I needed to focus on InuKag in the last chapter because they are important to the plot of this story. If I didn't include the chapter, then everyone would be wondering why and how they are still sticking around after Naraku is destroyed. Now you know: Kagome wished that all of them would stay together, and so they are. The jewel is purified, and Kagome and Inuyasha can travel back and forth freely.

Lightsword: Define happy?

Bob: Yea! Another male reader! ::hugs Bob:: Unless Bob is a nickname…. ::ponders:: InuKag aren't that bad… I like writing them actually, they just aren't as much fun as SM.

Quistis88: Mwa. Fluff. It's my calling.

Thank you for all the wonderful reviews!! Good luck on all of your exams as well!!

Chapter Two:

Party Time

It took forever for Sango and I to marry. There were important matters to deal with first. When we learned that Kagome and Inuyasha were going to mainly living in the future, we first decided to make the adoption of Shippo legalized. That was a long and tedious process which I shall not get into. Then, we had to track down Kohaku. He still did not want to become a demon slayer again, and he was more than happy with the patch of earth he had found, tending to his flocks and herds and writing poetry in the dust.

And so then it became time to start setting up the school to train more demon slayers. Sango wanted to wait until we at least had that started before she would burden herself with children. I say that only because as soon as we married, we were planning on jumping in bed together. Often, we had been getting closer and closer to having _actual_ intercourse when we were physical with each other. No matter how painful it was at the time, we would always stop. The idea that Sango might become accidentally pregnant was always the consequence of our actions, and Sango had said it often enough: 'I want to be able to settle down and have a family, so that our children have a place to call home'.

We had meant to build the village on the same place where it once stood, as that area was filled with rich history and many demons friendly to the slayers. However, in our journeys to find Kohaku, we had told parents that we were living in Kaede's village. It was our mistake, for that was where they sent their children, thinking that was where the new village was to be made. When Sango and I returned home, we already found thirteen children waiting for us, some of their families already trying to adjust to their new homes, and more were on their way. After the terror or Naraku, it seemed the knowledge and dedication to become a fighter was well in demand.

Sango looked at the children that gathered around her, and I only wish I could bring such a smile to her face.

It took us two years to find Kohaku and to assemble those thirteen families. I was twenty-three, Sango twenty, when we sat down one evening, and agreed to be married the next time our best friends came in from the future for the period of time they referred to as the 'weekend'.

The very next day, I dug through my clothes, and I found the glove I used to wear when I had been cursed. I smiled. The ring embedded in the glove was still bright.

* * *

"Miroku," Sango asked, leaning around my naked body. The hair brushing my cheek caused me to breathe in sharply from pain. My cheek hurt like hell, but it was understandable why. My hand had been healed for two months now, and I still got a thrill when I felt Sango's skin against min. I had spent the past two months enjoying various parts of Sango anatomy with my new hand. She mumbled an apology and I rolled over to look up at her. "Miroku, how come…."

My hand rubbed up and down and she raised her hand to slap me. I was delirious with happiness, and couldn't see the strike coming, but instead of slapping me she just peeled my hand away. My smile twitched, sad that I wasn't touching her anymore. Then her fingertips carefully ran down the fabric that covered my hand. I opened my eyes, finding her face thoughtful, her soft mouth turned into a cute little pout.

"Why do you still wear the glove?" she asked quietly, slowly moving her gaze from my hand to my face.

My smile disappeared. I lifted my hand from under hers and I pulled it open, staring at the palm that hovered over me. I traced my life line, the other lines and bumps which I had not felt in years. My nose scrunched as I tried to keep from being emotional. "Somehow, I don't think I ever really believed that I would have this back. Oh, I wanted it, I wanted it more than you can imagine… but the kazaana is gone, and I haven't been able to fully understand that yet. I keep on imagining that the skin I feel beneath me is my imagination, that it's some wonderful memory that allows me to feel things, like your fingers, or my skin, or warmth. I keep waiting for the kazaana to reopen because, on some level… I miss it."

I looked up at her. Her face was full of understanding. As of two months ago, I had this terrible curse upon me, and then it was gone. As of two months ago, I had only dreams ahead of me, and now I had a real future. And worse, as of two months ago, I had had this power that had allowed me to fight with the best of warriors, which had allowed me to defeat things no one else could, that had helped me to the point where, somewhere along the line I had come to rely upon using it.

I was happy, I was immensely happy, but I was scared too. I felt powerless. What would happen when our backs were against the wall now? What would happen if all our weapons were taken from us? How could I continue fighting and holding my own when my last piece of defense, my secret weapon, had been taken from me?

She cupped my cheek with her warm hand, and I snapped out of my thoughts, giving her a smile to tell her all was well. Sango kissed me sweetly. I love how she kisses. Taking my hand, she helped me up and passed me my staff. "C'mon, Houshi-sama," she teased, "let's go get some practicing done. There's no point in sitting around feeling sorry for yourself. You're still strong, and we'll work together to making you the best demon slayer out there."

About to ask her a question, she tapped my lips shut and winked at me, her brown hair falling against her shoulder. "Okay then, the best _male_ slayer out there."

"But our wounds aren't fully healed."

"So? We'll take it easy!"

I suppressed a groan as I sat up. I had seen and partook in the exercises Sango put herself through in a regular basis. An "easy" workout for her was like an endurance run for the rest of us. She smiled, offering me her arm, and I took it. Sango helped me to stand.

"Miroku," she said softly, "I can't say that I completely understand what you're feeling, but trust me…Miroku, there's more to your fighting skills than just the kazaana. You're strong, and talented, and smart. In fact, I think that losing it makes you stronger. It means that you don't have it to rely on, and that you'll have to rely on that quick wit of yours I love so much. The kazaana is gone, it was a bane, and I for one am happy to see it go."

"So am I," I said. She didn't understand, did she? I _was_ happy to see it go, I just envied the power I had as of two months ago. As of then, I would have used the kazaana to save people… now I had wit. It almost didn't seem like a worthy trade off. I looked bitterly down at the glove on my hand. "I'll take off the seals as soon as I'm sure that it's not coming back. I'll take it off as soon as I'm ready."

We began to exercise together, and soon it turned into fighting, and during the middle of that, when Sango gave me a kiss for finally beating her… a long, hot, long, sweet kiss. It left the world spinning around me and made me change my mind.

Life a without the kazaana was going to be a bitch to get used to, but it was going to be well worth it.

* * *

I entered Sango's house without knocking and proceeded to straight to the bedroom. It was my house too, after all, and in three days we could finally place our beds right beside each other, and stay up till the late hours of the night exploring each other on every level possible. Since we had started teaching our students, the only thing that kept me from feeling like I was walking on air was the occasional rap on the shoulder when I let my guard down as I taught, and the occasional toss in the mud as Sango and I continued our lessons.

Sango gasped in surprise and grabbed whatever was closest to her, her cheeks a deep scarlet. She turned away from me, trying to hide what she was wearing. "Miroku! Knock before you come in! You're not supposed to see me dressed like this! Kagome said its bad luck to see the bride in her gown before the wedding day!"

I stared at my soon to be wife, and sighed. She was a sight that could make a blind man cry from her beauty, but I am biased. She wore a kimono of deep crimson that shimmered in the firelight. Her hair was done up in a complicated knot, and her eye shadow was a little darker than normal. The dark color of her dress made her skin seem paler and softer, and she needed no lip-paint to make her lips stand out. Her kimono was decorated with gold stitching, tiny dragons circling the cuffs and a phoenix rising from the back. Both creatures were ones of great power and wisdom, and their presence seemed to keep Sango from looking like nothing but another painted doll.

"Sango… you look beautiful."

She stopped hiding behind the broom, realizing that she had, in fact, been hiding behind a broom. She looked down at the dress, touching it lightly. "I don't feel like myself in it…"

"Nonsense!" I grinned at her wildly. "You look like a queen, and that is what you really are, deep down inside. Powerful, wise, determined… it suits you."

We were silent after that. I didn't know what to say, and Sango was self-conscious. I had, of course, come for a reason, but now that I had to do it, I was slightly nervous. I was so used to Sango the demon slayer, Sango my friend, that seeing Sango the woman, the bride, rather frightened me. I coughed, loudly, abruptly changing the topic.

"Sango, Kagome told me about this tradition that they have in the world now, in the future. They say that the second last finger on the right hand is connected to your heart, and that by having two people wear rings on those fingers, they signify forever that their lives and hearts are joined as one. I know that you don't really wear any jewelry… but I thought you would like to."

I held out my hand for her, and opened my hand. There was a gold ring sitting in the center of my palm. "I like that tradition, Sango, even if only one of us will have a ring. Think of this as my wedding gift."

Sango stared at it, her jaw open. She slowly took the ring from me, inspecting it. As always, when she looked at me her gaze was lighthearted; teasing and happy in a way I had only seen her looking in my wildest dreams. "You didn't steal it, did you?"

I touched my heart, pretending to be brutally injured. "I guarantee you that I did not steal it. It happens to be a family heirloom. It was my father's, and my grandfather's… and one day it would have been my son's, but instead, I want you to have it. I think it would be better if it were passed down through the woman's side of my family, as a wedding tradition." I outstretched my right hand. "It was from the glove."

"Oh…" Sango gave me back the ring, and smiled. Then she offered me her hand. "Miroku, will you do the honor?"

Grinning, I took her hand and slipped the ring on it. Taking her into my arms, I barely could have thought that when the wedding approached a few days later, she would be shivering, feverish, and sick to her stomach with worry. Coming into the house during that time, I found Sango wrapped in a blanket, looking pale and frightened.

Sango looked at me with her deep eyes, and wearily made a 'go away' motion. "I'm fine; I'm fine. I'm just a little stressed."

I sighed heavily, and continued to approach her. Sango's wrath was strong, but short-lived, and now that my groping had stopped altogether, her wrath was very rarely directed at me. Sitting down beside her, I grabbed another blanket and wrapped it around her, my arm securing it in place. "What is it that has gotten you so anxious?" I asked. "It's not the idea of marrying me, is it?"

Sango shook her head, but barely. If she shook it too hard, she was going to start getting dizzy again. "No, I'm looking forward to marrying you. It's everything else that I have a problem with! I just… have the jitters, I guess. I wish we could just kiss and be married, rather than go through some kind of ceremony."

"You're tense." I slipped my hands up to her shoulders, rubbing them. Her body became a little less tense, and she leaned into my touch. My voice was low, my breath tickling her ears. "Relax, Sango. Everything will be just fine. We'll get ready in the morning, and get married in the afternoon, and in the evening, we'll celebrate with all our friends. Kagome and Inuyasha will be there, and Kaede, and Kohaku, and all of the students we've been able to gather. Come on, the whole village has been waiting for tomorrow. I've been waiting for tomorrow. After tomorrow, officially, we'll always be together, and connected. You'll be my wife."

"And you'll be my husband," she agreed with a little smile. "Actually, I'm more worried about the part of our marriage that says we have to consummate it."

"Oh." Sango was scared about sex. I kept rubbing her shoulders, leaning over her a little more, my lips now near her cheek. I kissed it soothingly. "Sango, love, you don't have to worry about sex. We don't have to consummate the marriage tomorrow night. We can wait, and let it happen on its own."

She shook her head again. The movement stirred the air and her scent filled the area around us, feminine and strong. I could smell her arousal; it was subtle in the air. It was natural that thinking about sex would make her nervous and hungry at the same time, was it not? "I agreed that we would wait until our wedding night. You were ready to have sex long ago and I'm not going to make you wait any longer just because I'm a little nervous. Besides," Sango added, "I've been ready myself for awhile now. I really did want to wait until our wedding night, I wanted to wait until I was a wife, until I had found the one man that could know every bit of me intimately. I found him, but now that I know _when_ it's going to happen, I'm scared."

"What part of it exactly are you scared about?"

"All of it," she said with a small laugh. She pulled my hands off of her, and turned around in my arms, pressing her cheek against my chest. She wrapped her arms around me, rubbing her head slightly as she talked. Her hair was soft on my skin, and I happily held her back. "I think. Kagome said that I shouldn't expect much the first time I have sex with you…"

I was dismayed that my friend might speak so ill of me in such a manner! Was Kagome saying I was bad at the act of love? Who was she to know? I had never laid with Kagome, and never would. Perhaps she and Inuyasha had had sex, and she was telling Sango that based upon her own experiences with Inuyasha! If this was the case, then I would need to talk with Inuyasha, and perhaps allow him to know some of my secrets that I had in turn been taught by others. After all, I could not allow such rumors to spread around, nor could I deny my two friends the joy of good sex!

Knowing what I was thinking, Sango laughed very quietly. "I mean, Miroku, that Kagome told me not to expect much my first time because for a woman, it hurts. The skin becomes stretched, there's a barrier that needs to be broken… It's nothing against you, Miroku. It's just the way that women are designed."

"But I'm Miroku," I grinned. I cupped her chin and tilted her head up so I could see her face. I kissed her quickly, and winked at her. "Sango, I'm Miroku, remember? I'm fully aware of what happens during sex. Kagome told me about it too. I don't want to hurt you, Sango. It's more pleasurable for a woman if she's relaxed. I promise you that I will be gentle, and that I will go as slowly as you want, and... and well, basically I'll make you so aroused that…"

"Okay, okay, you can stop there." She shivered in my arms. "The other thing I was worried about, was what if I don't please you in the same manner? I mean, I'm fully aware of what a man does during sex. Men really aren't that complicated, as you always say. But what does a woman do?"

I knew exactly how to answer this question. Scooping her up, I gently placed her on the mattress, and leaned over her. "Basically, Sango, it's just like what we've been doing so far. This for that. The more you give, the more you receive. So, you see, if I kiss you." I did just that, a quick peck on the lips. "Then you would kiss me back."

Smiling, Sango entwined her fingers in my hair, and pulled me down. Her lips parted for me, and her tongue darted out to lick my bottom lip. Sango was a quick learner, but then, kissing was something to which we had become quite accustomed. Our lips met, and our breaths intermingled. The sensation was personal, so intimate, that both of us immediately calmed our minds as our hearts took over, our bodies longing for more touching.

I ran my tongue over the roof of her mouth, making her shiver. When her tongue touched mine, sparks went off in my body. I pulled away, planning on talking more, but she kissed me back the same way I had her. I forgot what I was going to say. Sango's hands pressed against my back, and then started to travel down. I barely felt this, my lips parting from hers to move to her jaw, biting at her playfully in little nips. I stopped when I felt her hands grope me.

Sango…

Grope me…

I raised my head to look at her, puzzled. Sango… hated groping… didn't she?

Sango smiled at me, giving her little shrug. Her brown eyes were so warm that they even made me feel hotter than her touch ever could. Her gaze made a little version of me dance around in my head chanting, 'Sango loves me, Sango loves me and she wants me, Sango loves me!'

"Miroku, you did tell me that it was this for that. I told you once that I wished you'd keep groping me, and it was true. I've kind of gotten used to it. Just not when you do it in public. I've… missed it. I guess I've just come to associate you with touching me like that."

"You are… spectacular," I praised her as I snuck my hand beneath her body, rubbing the curve of her derriere. Sango smiled, and nuzzled my chin, kissing me back the same way I had her. "Still nervous about sex?"

"Not if it feels like this," she sighed. Her breath reached up to my ear, ticklish. "But maybe tomorrow I should be on the top. When you start nuzzling my neck like that and I'm laying down, it makes me want to fall asleep and start purring. You make me wish I could purr." She stopped kissing my neck, and looked at me, with some shyness as well as some eagerness. "Can I be on the top?"

I grinned, still deliriously happy at getting to touch Sango's ass, this time with permission. "Sango, I would even suggest that you would be, that way you have more control. You have no idea how many dreams I've had where we… ah, well, never mind. Why tell you when I can show you every night for the rest of our lives?"

Laughing, she wrestled the covers out from under us and drew them over my shoulders. I rolled over to my side, my hands still resting on her derriere. Her body was nice and warm against mine, and despite the… well, let's call it by it's proper name, lust I felt when she kissed me with such passion, as well as the simple desire to be with her to prove to her with my body how much I loved her, I was tired. Not exhausted tired, but more… worn down from the excitement of the day, and feeling very languid. I could just as easily sleep as…

"Miroku!" I heard Inuyasha holler.

"Sango!" Kagome's voice wasn't very far behind.

Before we could untangle to get the door, the two of them burst in. Inuyasha grabbed me, Kagome grabbed Sango, and they pulled. We were both pulled out of bed, and blindfolded by our friends. I heard Sango ask Kagome where we were going, and our friend laughed. "Don't worry, Sango! It's just another little taste of the future. We have a ceremony in the future for the bride and groom the night before the wedding where they can get out and enjoy their last night of freedom. Sango, you're coming with me. Miroku, you're going with Inuyasha."

I didn't get to take my blindfold off until we were sitting comfortably in the hut Inuyasha and Kagome used when they were over. I looked around and saw some of the friends I had made in the village, Kohaku, Inuyasha, and of course, Shippo. The sake was quickly cracked open, but I looked at Shippo. "Are you even old enough to be here?"

His tail flicked back and forth, and he smiled broadly. "Kagome told Inuyasha he had to bring me, because I'm your friend and I'm a man. She says that because I'm a demon and age faster, I should still be included in the wedding thing because it'll be the only time I will get to sit here with you and Inuyasha, celebrating your wedding." The sake was passed his way, and he took a sip. His pink tongue stuck out as he made a horrible face. "Ew! It tastes like shit!"

Laughing, I took the sake from him and poured myself a glass, also taking his cup to finish the rest of his drink for him. "It's an acquired taste, alcohol. Eventually you'll like it… probably by Kagome's era you'll have developed a taste for sake, but by that time you'll have those sugary drinks she calls 'pops' and you'll be stuffing yourself full of sugar."

I passed the sake to Inuyasha, who took the rest of the bottle, being the last in line. His unrestrained dog ears twitched when someone whispered to him as he took a long gulp from the bottle. When I smiled, I found myself staring at a copy of my own smile. "Oh, already? Wonderful. I guess this means we dance first, then we eat and drink more."

"Is that all we're doing tonight? Eating, drinking, and dancing?" I inquired, as the band that was in the corner began to play.

My friend shrugged. "You'll have to wait and see… though, basically, yes. It's a shame that you and Sango couldn't go to the future for the night, Miroku. In the future, they have these things called strip clubs, where women willingly take off their clothes for you."

Just as I was about to ask him to tell me more about this thing called a strip club, someone blew out a few of the candles, dimming the place. Inuyasha clapped my back, and Shippo crawled sleepily into my lap. It was probably the worst place he could be at the time, because a moment later, three beautiful women stepped out, and began to dance for our enjoyment.

Amazed that this was happening –as it had not happened in a long, long time… since before I had joined up with my companions that women had last danced for me- I found myself in seventh heaven. Did Sango know that this was what was going on in the hut? Did Kagome know that there were a bunch of drooling, slobbering, sexual males staring at three spectacular specimens of the female race?

"Inuyasha," I asked, leaning over his way. "What exactly is this party called?"

"Bachelor party," he replied, still hogging the booze to himself.

Let him keep the booze; bring the women over this way!

-

I didn't find out until later that Sango had her bachelorette party. Hers was much more orderly, and less… perverse. For the most part, the women of our village, including Kaede, were pretty much just sitting around and talking about sex. Sex, of all things! The virgins were sitting around listening intently, while those who had sex were discussing their horror stories and their favorites. Kagome, was part of the first group, but she was telling stories about the people she knew or she'd been taught in school. Kagome felt fine telling people about her friends and their experiences because we would never get to meet them, and they were all nameless tales.

Then they brought out the presents. They gave Sango practical gifts for our new life together, like a blanket or a pretty set of tea cups. But when everyone left, Kagome brought out the comical gifts. She had three of them. She handed Sango a small square box wrapped in shiny paper. Kagome grinned, her cheeks a little pink from the bottle of sake that the girls had been drinking. "This is from my mother. There's a western custom in our era, and it's pretty fun. It says that for a lucky marriage, you need something new, something borrowed, something old, and something blue. So, Momma got you the something blue."

Sango opened the package, and found a set of blue jewelry in the box. She gasped, and gently touched them. "Kagome… they're beautiful. Your… your mother did this for me?"

"I've told my mother all about you. She really wanted to get you something, and when she saw these, she thought you would like them. Do you like them?"

"Yes! God, Kagome, they're beautiful!" She smiled, and gave a choked laugh. "No, I don't even want to open the other gifts, if they're all like this. Kagome, please do me a favor and give your mother a huge hug when you see her, will you?"

Kagome smiled back, and handed her a large, flat, rectangular package. "Don't worry. You only have one more package to open. At least for right now. This is Miroku's gift. The only thing is, you have to wear it for him. Let's just say that Inuyasha managed to pressure a few things out of Miroku last time we were here, and the least I can do for him his to try and help some of his fantasies come true. Although, you have to wear this at the wedding tomorrow too. It's the something new." She handed Sango the last books, thin and flat. "This box is from me. It has nothing to do with the wedding, or the wedding night, it's just a joke." She handed Sango the third box, and then finished off the rest of her sake in one long gulp.

Opening it, Sango found herself staring at something and not even knowing what it was. It was a book, of that she was sure, but from the title and the cover she wasn't sure if it was a book she wanted to read. "Kagome?"

"Women are more turned on from the written word," our friend explained. "This is a collection of short stories that involve sex, all from the perspective of the women. So, if you want to get yourself in the mood, just read a story." She took another sip of sake and sighed dramatically. "I figured it was good for you because Miroku's so sexual that…"

Sango laughed, and hugged Kagome, pushing her down on the mattress and kissing her cheek. Sango's face was also a bright shade from the alcohol. "I love you, Kagome," Sango said with a dopey smile. It was followed by a yawn. She rolled over slowly, searching over the mattress for something. "I had a knife here… where did it go to?"

She found it and took Kagome's hand. Kagome was busy giggling, and didn't notice until she yelped and pulled her hand away. There was a line down the center of it, leaking blood slowly. "Ow! That really hurt Sango… man, I haven't seen blood in so long, now that the fighting is all done. You know, minus the whole men… menstra… you know, bleeding… thing…" Her voice trailed off and her eyebrows drew together as she tried to remember what word it was that she'd just had trouble remembering.

Cutting her own hand, Sango clasped hands with Kagome and then lay down beside her on the bed. "Now… we're sisters. My blood, your blood, _our_ blood. And if you marry Inu… Inu-what-his-face, and I marry Miroku-sama, then we'll _all_ be family."

"Sango," Kagome moaned, groggy from the alcohol. "Shut up… I wanna go to bed."

"Did anyone ever tell you that you can be an incredibly cranky drunk?" Sango demanded. She didn't get to ask anything else as she fell to sleep, and tomorrow finally arrived.


	3. Wedding Bliss

Complete and Unconditional

AN: Okay, so I don't know when I started writing these… welcome to the honeymoon night. While this is a pathetic excuse for citrus—I prefer calling it a lemon soufflé, thank you—it's not for people underage. ::narrows eyes:: I know who's underage… (mostly).

Ah, read at your own discretion, anyway. It's not like I can stop you.

Lily Thorne: Do you know I can't find Pocky where I am now? Isn't that a crime?

Snow-Queen1: I love using his perversion for comedy. With comments like that though… poor Inuyasha is going to have a lot to make up for in Miroku's mind before he's pleasing Kagome properly.

Aamalie: Correction. _Sango_ will have a hangover. Miroku can hold his alcohol. And they were two separate scenes. - The other one happened between the two years from defeating Naraku and getting married. It's just kind of… symbolic.

Ninalee-chan: At work? Lol Don't make me start yelling at you too! I don't want to get anyone in trouble! And in all honesty…. I have many, _many_ chapter written, but I hoard them all, that way I can go back and make sure everything is nice and smooth, and check my grammar, and make sure these are lacking plotholes. -' Stupid plotholes.

Joanna: Once upon a time, I hated Kohaku. He was always interrupting the MS fluff! So I took liberties, and I am glad to see that apparently those liberties are believable.

Blood Red Emerald: I always try to update on a regular basis. ::sweatdrops:: Need to do homework though…

Bob: It begs the question…. Why Bob, then?

Siren: Sex is a big thing in general now, methinks. Their clocks are ticking. Maybe they should finally settle on a number of children?

Hoshiko: Gomen!! Have a cookie to make up for it. - I also enjoyed their intimate conversations in DW more myself. They were so much fun to write! And they needed to be said! But this one has a whole new bucket of worms or two, so eventually those conversations will return.

Starr-chan: This baby is five months old, believe it or not. I had a long, boring school vacation. Besides starting to date my best friend… and working… and moving into my first apartment… and… okay, I still had time to write and had to do something because I had no MS fluff!!

JQLN: Want a cookie too?

Cookies for all!

Enjoy the lemon soufflé!

Chapter Three:

Wedding Bliss

My hand rested on the side of the door of our house, but Miroku merely grinned and suddenly picked me up, carrying me across the threshold. Apparently this one was another western tradition, and this one I didn't mind so much. Miroku had nice arms, and I liked being held by them. His hands were nice and warm, and I snuggled into the soft fabric of the kimono he had worn for our wedding. His whole body was warm. I sighed with happiness, and I had not been so excited, the late hour and the way that the world rocked back and forth when I walked would have put me to sleep. He shut the door with his foot, and carried me straight to the bedroom.

"Miroku," I sighed into his chest, "you don't have to carry me all the way into the bedroom. Besides, I want to show you something." I wiggled out of his grasp and my toes touched the floor. I smiled up at him, my grin threatening to break my face in two, and I actually giggled. "Go and sit on the bed and close your eyes, tightly."

He arched an eyebrow, and slowly grinned lecherously, unable to take his dark eyes from my face. "Just as long as it isn't a surprise that makes me ruin my… appetite. All those foods that we had for supper? To put it bluntly: each and every one of them was an aphrodisiac, which means that right now, I want you more than I ever have before."

I pushed him down on the bed, smiling. I felt like a little kid who had just found my playmate. I had heard stories about girls being nervous on their first night as a wife with an amorous husband, but I just felt like I had this wonderful, _fun_ new part of my life and I wanted to enjoy it to the fullest. "You are such a pervert… that's why you wanted to pick the food, isn't it? You didn't really want to help, you just wanted to make sure you had aphrodisiacs!" I poked him in the chest, leaning up to him, as if to kiss him. I looked up innocently, his eyes shining. "What's the matter, Miroku? Can't you keep it up without help?"

My husband growled, and grabbed my arms. Before he could respond, I pressed him down on the futon. "Miroku, nothing I can do will ruin your… appetite. Close your eyes." He closed them with little argument and I leaned over, kissing his eyelids gently as I quickly undressed myself. My clothes made a neat little pile on the floor, and all the time I gently kissed his face, making sure that he didn't peek. When I was finished, I stood up. "Okay."

The look on his face made me feel like I was a goddess. His eyes started at my feet, and then up to my naked thighs. Then there was the start of the lingerie I wore. It was a pretty shade of pink which Kagome said was called coral. The fabric was printed with little roses and leaves, but sheer. Miroku could just barely see through it. His eyes moved across my toned stomach to my breast, which were encased in the same fabric and held in place by the object Kagome called a bra. The blue necklace still hung around my neck, accenting the shape of my breast.

He stumbled to ask who had given me such vestments, but he couldn't even get past 'who'. The answer should have been obvious, but I suppose that in his… distracted state I could let that silly question slide.

"Kagome." I said, touching the pink silk gently. "She said you wanted to see me in something like this." I felt myself blush the same color as the garments I wore. That's probably why Kagome chose pink in the first place. "Do you regret saying that to Inuyasha?"

"Hell no!" He suddenly leapt off the bed and grabbed me around my waist. His lips covered mine, his tongue darting between my lips to massage the roof of my mouth. I was taken aback, and found the wall of our house suddenly against my back. Miroku leaned on me a bit further, causing the front part of our bodies to melt further against each other. Kissing him back with as much longing, I felt his hardened member, still trapped by his own clothes, press against me, rub against me. I entwined my fingers in his hair, messing it up. His hair always looked better disheveled. Letting out a sigh, I relaxed against him.

His touch softened slightly, his movements slowing down to treasure each moment of our kiss. Just because it wasn't… abrasive didn't mean that it wasn't passionate. Oh no, it was… the most amazing kiss, the most amazing _night_ of my entire life! His lips were warm against mine, his hands just right in the way they rubbed against my arms and my hips. My hands slowly began to undress him as his hands explored my body, our lips parting and meeting; we didn't really even care if half the time we weren't kissing, and we were just letting our selves touch each other experimentally, searching for the right ways to make the other moan or sigh in pleasure. Actually, we were just enjoying touching each other period.

I stared up at him, and sighed his name before I closed my eyes and kissed him soundly. My lips covered his, and slowly moved them against his. Just as slowly, my tongue ran against his lips. I giggled in surprise when both his hands cupped my derriere, and Miroku took utter advantage of my surprise by pressing his tongue against my open mouth.

We stayed locked like that as we stumbled back to the futon, Miroku's clothes added to my pile. I pressed myself up on my hands as Miroku stood over me, leaning a little on the bed as I watched him back. My foot lazily drew up and down his leg. Miroku has very nice eyes.

His violet-grey eyes took on that same light I had seen only ones before. The way his eyes moved over me made goose bumps appear all over my body, and my heart rate increase. Yet this time, it was different. I didn't feel offended by the concentration and desire in his eyes, and I do truly doubt that it was the ring on my finger that made me feel differently. I think… that this time, I was ready. I was ready to accept that I had a loving, wonderful husband, and that I would have sexual relations with him. That didn't mean that I was nothing but someone to warm his bed and give him children, because Miroku had more than effectively proved to me he loved me for more reasons than because I was a woman. He loved me because of the type of woman I am; of who I am.

No, this time when he looked at me with uncontrollable desire, I felt… beautiful. I felt strong, as if I was the tamer of a demon or a god; and I felt beautiful. He wasn't repulsed that my body was as tough as his, or the scars I held. He desired to touch every single scar, to kiss them better, to run his hands over every inch of muscle, because the life I had chosen was part of why he loved me.

Staring up at him, the corners of my bruised mouth lifted slightly. "Miroku, I love you, but are you just going to stand there all day?"

Much to my surprise, he answered my teasing with another growl. He sank down to his knees, and I leaned forward to meet him. My lips ran down his chest, kissing him everywhere I could reach as his hands slid up one of my legs. His large hands rubbed my skin, moving quickly up to the sheer panties to brush my skin, and I felt his body tremor in surprise when I realized how truly aroused I was. Now that the time had come, my nervousness had retreated to the back of my mind, and I longed to be as intimate with Miroku as I finally could be.

He moaned my name and his hand retreated, drawing with it the panties. His hands then moved to my upper body while I continued to play with his skin, running my fingertips lightly across his strong arms and tracing the outlines of his muscles, doodling absentmindedly. His thumb brushed my nipples and I shivered in response, smiling. Miroku grinned, and shifted again, gently laying me back on the bed. His knee rubbed against me as his teeth nipped at the straps of my bra. I loved how sex with Miroku was like a wonderful game. Then he took one of my nipples into his mouth, as his other hand massaged the other breast, and I let out a short moan that was different from the ones before. I wasn't aware of anything else except the way he touched me, the sounds he was making, and the way his breath felt on my skin.

I was so involved in just the way Miroku felt when he was with me, I didn't know what to do anymore. My hands stopped moving, resting on his biceps. I moved against Miroku, angling myself at the right angle so that when he rubbed his knee he was touching me in exactly the right spot.

Miroku's lips kissed my warm skin as he switched sides, and I snapped back to reality. I wanted to make Miroku feel the same way he did me. One hand stroked his hair, and he moved into my hand, as my free hand began to pull at the edge of his pants to try and loose his erection.

He stopped his attentions to look down at me with an eager gaze. "Please, Sango, let me do that."

Grinning wildly, the tip of his tongue lapped at the edge of my jaw, and I stretched my neck, trying to get him to touch me like that more. It was all the little things like that which made me want Miroku. When he didn't continue, I nodded, and he slipped back off the bed. His pants joined the pile of clothes on the floor, and I eyed Miroku from head to toe.

His hair was disheveled from how I had run my hands through it. His skin was dark from the blood that coursed near the surface. I had seen him naked only a few times before this, even in two years, and as he moved back against me again, I could see in his eyes that he was looking for the same thing I was when I felt his eyes trace the bright white scars on my body.

I smiled up at him, and I wiggled slightly before pushing my chest up so that I could see the scars on his shoulders and arms. They were within my reach. I kissed them gently, only once, before I moved on to another. I didn't know how else to tell him that he was gorgeous. Did men even like being told that?

Miroku let out his captured breath before he took my chin in one hand, and he lifted me up to kiss me. I loved the languid ones we share like that. They allow our bodies to touch, allow us to focus on everything instead of just one thing. His violet eyes were bright as his hand slid down my body, just briefly touching my buttocks before he continued to my ankle. I could tell that he was already planning things to do afterwards. He began to tug at my bra, and I lifted up enough so that he could pull it off of me. I loved the way his whole face lit up as the lingerie floated to the ground.

Picking up my hand, he kissed the ring on my finger, the same ring that used to be around his finger. He didn't say anything; he didn't need to say anything. One hand supported his body, and he nuzzled my neck. I responded by stroking his back, my arms holding him to me, and I found a new bravery within me that let my fingers wander down and stroke his erection with my fingertips. He made a pleased noise. When his fingers touched me, I let out a soft sound. I felt warm by how close he was to me, safe between him and our wedding bed.

Like before, his touch sent fire through my body. I shifted, sighing in pleasure, sighing his name the way I knew he liked it. I only kept stroking him, stroking his black hair with my other hand, not knowing what the eagerness in his eyes meant. Whatever Miroku had up his sleeves, I would soon be able to learn and surprise him back.

As he stroked me, he shifted again, pressing his fingers harder. I felt the fire immobilize me, and I saw him wince from the corner of my eye, but I couldn't help it. I clung to him, feeling the pleasure build inside me, some of it being released in the form of sighs and moans. My lips trembled and I arched my back as I felt it start to break. I opened my mouth, tilting my head back to scream his name. His lips covered mine, not wanting to hear me until… well, until you know when.

My body shook from pleasure, and I felt another explosion close by. Miroku smiled down at me, his hands stroking my entire body, and we started trading languid kisses as he entered me. I swallowed a sound of pain, shifting my body so I was more comfortable. I had been expecting more pain, expecting something that brought tears to my eyes, but it was just uncomfortable. Miroku kissed me softly, apologizing, and the feeling slowly ebbed away. Instead, the feeling of pleasure came back, though this time it was still slightly uncomfortable.

His fingers still touching me, he pressed against me again, making the feeling of pleasure increase and the pain decrease even more as my body chose the first. "Miroku," I sighed. Hearing his name, he looked at me, and I kissed him gently, accepting his sweet, perverted apology.

By my words he knew that I was ready. I said his name again, rubbing my head against his neck, listening to his heartbeat. "How… how is it?" he inquired, brushing my hair from my face for me.

"It makes me feel happy," I said, choosing my words carefully. It was the truth. Being connected like this, with Miroku, it made me happy. I was sharing with him something I would never share with anybody, breaking that final barrier that had always kept us from physically knowing each other perfectly.

Slowly, we began to build up our speed. The pain was still there, but the pleasure I could feel from Miroku, his breathing and the way my name slipped from his lips now and then, I knew I was doing right. If there was anything I worried about, I was worried that I would not be able to please Miroku. But his body shuddered, his warm breath gasping against my skin, my fingers still reassuring him and touching everywhere I could reach. His body starting to sag against mine, and my chest still heaved from the physical work out.

Raising his head from my shoulder where he had let it fall, he kissed my cheek and smiled deliriously. He was happy, more than happy. Whispering sweet nothing in my ear, he tried to pull away from me, but I held him fast. His lips still brushed my face in gentle little kisses.

Miroku pulled the blankets over us, rolling us over and laying down beside me on the bed. I felt sore, but I couldn't feel most of it. Most of the elation I felt was from Miroku, and the smile on his face when he looked over at me, from the pleasant feeling of our bodies entwined together. Eventually, we drifted apart, my body tired, but Miroku still wanted to play, wanted to make me forget the pain by remembering the pleasure he caused in me when we were together.

His arm snuck under mine, and I rested my head under his chin, the scent of his body soothing to me. His other hand brushed my stomach, and then moved lower. Miroku's fingers slid easily into me, stroking the sensitive spot in front of me. My body shuddered, and he smiled, his lips tickling my ear. He told me to relax, to let myself finish the transition I was on, to let myself go. I didn't really want to, enjoying myself far too much, wanting to treasure the first experience of the most intimate touch I had ever received.

But as he touched my I felt my body shudder, and I moved slightly, allowing him better access. I once again wrapped my arms around him, letting the sounds of my voice please him, unafraid to hide how he made me feel.

"Miroku…" He only had to touch me slightly before I felt my muscles clenching and then relaxing, feeling my blood pound in my mind and my breath thrown off beat. My nails dug into his skin as I moaned louder, his body responding by pressing a little harder and a little faster. I felt hot to the touch, my toes numb, as I lazily kissed his neck, slowly licked his skin here and there to tease him. Then he switched directions suddenly, making my head fall back as no words began to explain how I was beginning to feel. I think I forgot to breath.

His lips ran down my neck, I felt my body shudder, again and again, as he kissed me and I held on to him as tightly as I could so I couldn't lose myself. My body felt like it was burning, and then, when I cried out his name loudly, it began to ebb away, my breath escaping as sweet words and names to the man in my arms.

I looked up at him and saw him wincing. I meekly removed my nails from his shoulders, and placed my arms loosely against his waist. I entwined our legs together, and I was startled to find my legs were sore. We kissed, languid, and tired, but happy. His lips were still so soft and warm against mine, and he tasted better than he ever had before. He held me softly, not making me want to feel trapped in our wedding bed, and I snuggled in closer. Miroku took the hint and held me tighter.

"So, that was sex," I murmured, my breath running over his chest and neck. Miroku nodded, and I grinned. It turned into a yawn. "You're good at it. Very good."

His fingers brushed my hair in soothing waves, and I could feel the tiredness in his voice, underneath the concern. "I didn't hurt you, did I? I didn't want to make you nervous and have you…"

I silenced him with a kiss. "No. I mean, it kind of hurts, but it's not… not a _bad_ kind of hurt. It feels a bit like having exercised to the point where you can't walk anymore." I was silent for a long time, thinking. It really hadn't been as horrible as I had expected, in retrospect. He'd soothed away the pain, and afterwards, he'd made sure to give me that one moment of perfect pleasure.

In fact, it was times like this, where he was sweet and caring in his own perverted way, that made me feel like the words 'I love you' were too simple for what I felt. Instead, I laughed gently. "When can we do it again?"

Miroku didn't say anything, and I lifted my head too see him. His disheveled hair blended with mine, his breath low and steady. He was fast asleep. That was all right. I'll ask him the question later on. I needed sleep at that moment too, and so I found myself curling up to him, closing my eyes, and falling fast asleep, still not quite aware that Miroku was now my husband, forever.

-

Waking up, I found Miroku already awake, watching me. The color rose to my cheeks, wondering what thoughts were going through his head as he watched me sleep. I smiled, and raised my head enough to kiss him hello. "Good morning, husband."

He beamed in pride, and kissed me passionately. He took my breath away, and there was a familiar expression of cunning on his face. "Good morning, wife. Or should I call you Sango-chan?" I giggled at the idea, slightly miffed that I had actually heard 'Sango-chan' fall from his lips. "No? Oh, that's unfortunate. So, what do you want to do today, Sango? I'm game for anything, except work. This is our vacation. I don't even want to move from this bed."

"Well," I gently snapped, "you're going to have to move from this bed. Otherwise, you're going to smell, and I don't want you to stink up _our_ new house." My blush darkened, and I lowered my head slightly, looking at our entwined legs. "So, you're going to have to bathe, but… I'd like to be there to wash your back for you."

When he got over his shock at my suggestion of showering together, he grinned, and he hugged me tightly, kissing my hair. "And I want to wash your back, your hair, your legs, your chest… everything! Bathing together it is! Eating together, obviously. Kagome and Inuyasha are still here, so we're going to have to spend some time with them and Shippo and Kirara. Is there nothing else that you want to do?"

My teeth toyed with my bottom lip as I looked up at him with what I hoped was a shy and cute expression. "Yes… there is something I want to do. Can we… do that again? Please?"

Miroku grinned, and his leg tightened around me. "My darling Sango," he purred into my ear. "My darling Sango, you never have to ask me for that. Although… it does sound nice to hear you ask for sex so adorably. You're just trying to stroke my ego so that I can help satisfy your hunger, aren't you?"

Batting my eyelashes at him, I laughed again, stretching out in front of him, unaware of what a sight I was giving him. "Maybe I am. Or maybe I just want to learn more. I mean, I hate to be so easy as to already having been figured out. I want to learn what else we can do together, Miroku. In this area, it seems we'll have to teach each other. I'm looking forward to such an experience. It makes me… excited… in a purely non sexual away."

The statement made Miroku laugh, and his fingers slid through my hands, brushing my hair as he kissed my forehead and the rest of my face, avoiding my awaiting lips. "Let's see what we can do to change that."

"Say it again, Miroku," I sighed. Miroku looked at me, wondering what I meant when I asked him 'say it again'. He went back over the conversation, and was still clueless as to what I wanted to hear. I tweaked his nose, making his eyes widen further, amazing him with how relaxed I had become with him. "Call me yours again. Maybe if I hear it enough, I'll finally be able to understand that we're inseparable now."

"Both in this life," he agreed, "and the next." He leaned against me, and repeated it over and over again. I felt the edge of the futon under my back, and I tried to warn Miroku about it, but he didn't hear me. We slid to the hardwood floor, and Miroku merely laughed at the position. I followed him, the sound contagious. "My darling Sango, did you want to do it on the floor? You merely had to ask."

I slapped him gently on the head, but my answer was cut off as he held out my dress from last night, the sheer pink one. I could tell from the look in his eyes what he was going to ask me. I rolled my eyes in response. He was such a pervert! "Yes, fine, I'll wear it. But only this once! …Although it is surprisingly comfortable, when compared with binding my chest. Next thing you know, you'll be asking me to dance for you in it."

His eyes widened further, his lips turning into a pout. I could have peed myself laughing at that face. I shook my head, and as he didn't relent, I shook it harder. "Miroku, you pervert, I'm not going to dance for you! No! I'm not going to do it! Miroku… Don't you dare!" I shook a finger at him threateningly, but it didn't do any good. He started tickling me anyway. I squirmed and yelped, trying to fight his hands away without hurting him, the sound of our laughter distracting me. This is what I wanted to bring my child into: a warm, loving household filled with happiness.

He stopped tickling me and stared at me, as the laughter died down, and I stared up at him, thinking of nothing but how much I loved him. That's when he asked me that very question. My breath was still off kilter from my tickling, but I wrapped my arms around his neck and drew him down for a kiss. I didn't think that I could put it into words, but I could put it into a kiss.

Miroku licked his lips, and he looked at me with the respect of someone looking at a god. In a flash, it melted away, and I was again Sango in his eyes. Sango. Forever.


	4. Slaying

AN: No comment today… too tired from typing up the responses! ::stupidly happy smile:: And woot for finally being able to update!

Quistis88: I always try to keep it up. But it can't be done. If only I could earn a living writing fan fics… -- (What a perfect world that would be).

Kirara242: Was? But… but… it's not done yet!

Ninalee-chan: I also enjoyed the playfulness. I maintain that sex should be fun, and contrary to the belief of mass media, not everybody find what they portray as being fun. And, well, Miroku is just a sex god. But maybe I'm slightly biased in that theory.

FuryouOokami: Yay to future chapters as well! Myself… I don't like this one as much as I did DW. There was too many possibilities, too many years I had to try to discuss. I mean, already two years have passed, and I'm sad that I couldn't have talked about what might have happened in that time, but, sadly, that would make this fic impossibly long. -- All in all, I like to think of this as an exercise in self-restraint.

Iscis: While I can't say I enjoy nitpicking and having every error shoved under my nose (who does) I wouldn't mind any grammatical points. Spelling, as I spell check my work and run a spell check, is either something that was accidentally (obviously) overlooked, or it could be the British-American opinions of how to properly spell coming into play. But, grammar, on the other hand… please, give me some grammatical criticisms! I might not understand it, but maybe one day it'll sink in!

Xichiathik: Hey, I'm in university, and I'm still writing!

Lightsword: You've hit the head on the nail. Er, nail on the head. But this time, those chapters will just have Inuyasha and Kagome as the secondary couples. The two influence each other, but as far as being chapters solely on Inu and Kag, that's the one and only chapter.

Starzki: Thank you very much! Normally my friends criticize me that my lemons aren't lemony enough! They say it's too fluffy. And you know what? I don't think I could have waited either.

Bob: Enjoy your weekend yourself. - And that's a nifty story. It certainly is hard to forget. My nickname… well, most people think it's my first name. I dunno why.

Hoshiko: Hopefully you will find this chapter lives up to your expectations. -

Snow-Queen: But if they have kids… then their sex lives will go down.

Siren: I am also glad that you thought the sex was realistic! I am _so_ glad that I'm not the only one who disagrees with the portrayal the media sets out regarding sex. (Stupid media.) And I haven't had sex either. ::shrugs:: This is what I get for having an unhealthy interest in biology and finding that lemons are the best information I can find regarding sex. Sad, isn't it?

Fireblade: That's wedding sake, you're opening. Man, if I get married, I'm totally getting non-alcoholic wine and watching people think they are piss drunk when they aren't.

Meres: of course I do! If I didn't, it would be false advertising.

Lily Thorne: I don't know. I rather like the last chapter of DW.

Iggy04: There will eventually be some angst in the story (I think it starts the next chapter, actually), so it won't be all fluff. In regards to the jewel thing, I'm still not clear on the jewel shards myself. A lot of people seem to have come to the conlusion that Kagome is able to purify the jewel by making a wish on it. Rather than diviate too much from fandom, as this is a canon fic, I just made it that she wished they would always be able to remain together. Now the jewel is destroyed and the four of them can stay together. And I try to update once a week or so. Essentially, I update when I finish another chapter. - ::realizes that answered nothing and sweatdrops:: (But I try to write a chapter every one-two weeks.)

Enjoy!

Chapter Four: Slaying

Laying on the futon, staring up at the ceiling, my labored breathing echoed in my ears. The room was empty at the moment, but I knew that Miroku wasn't very far away. He had never been very far away from me, never since we had met. We were always looking out for each other, even when we were physically distant. It was nice. It gave me moments to think without being distracted by him, by his calming attitude and his tender smiles. And, of course, after we had just been married, by an uncontrollable desire to simply be intimate with him.

But laying there on that mat, staring up at the ceiling, thinking of times past, the memories surged forward. They were uncontrollable. The memories washed over my mind, occupying my thoughts as I wondered how I had come to feel so weak.

* * *

Chaos made the streets swarm with people as they ran in from the fields, screaming for their lives, running for their families. They screamed of a demon attacking them, following them into the fields and demanding the Shikon jewel. I awoke at the first sounds of screaming, rolling out of the mattress and grabbing my discarded clothes. I nudged Miroku, and found him already awake as well.

I smiled at him as I tossed him his armor. This was why I was supposed to always wear my armor, even while sleeping. It took a long time to suit up. But in the six months since I had been married to Miroku, I had been getting faster than ever at putting on my armor in record time.

Groaning as I twisted to put on my armor, Miroku's hand touched me gently, and he finished putting on the pink armor for me. I smiled at him thankfully, and Miroku's cheeks went a bit pink. I, in turn, finished putting on his armor for him, and passed him his _shakujo_. He still fought with it, though in the past year and half he had been developing his talents with other weapons. One day, one day soon, he'd be able to beat me with swords, and he could already do so with daggers. The staff of a monk was simply the weapon with which he felt the most comfortable. I picked up my own weapon, and the large boomerang wavered a bit as I held it.

"I'm sorry for making you so sore," Miroku whispered as the crowds parted to let them pass. Children young and old joined us, wearing the same armor as Miroku and I.

Recalling the wonderful night we had just had, I turned and grabbed him, kissing him tightly and taking his breath away. Lowering myself off my toes, I studied him, still surprised at Miroku-sama. His black hair was unbound from our sleepless night, curling about his hears and his neck, entwining with the wide, open collar of his shirt. His muscles were purely visible underneath the skin-tight black material, and it was still interesting to see his legs. He had very nice legs. Miroku smiled at me, and I felt my cheeks go red, as our students teased us.

Inuyasha appeared in the crowd, Kagome on his back and rubbing her eyes. It seemed we weren't the only ones who were tired from a busy night. Or, maybe it was just that Kagome had grown accustomed to the old—or is it new?—way of life, where danger wasn't waking her up early every morning. Inuyasha had changed much. "Hey! Are we going to stand around here all day, or are we going to go and _kill_ something?"

"Actually, Inuyasha," Miroku said wisely, rubbing the head of a young slayer near him affectionately. "Usually we let the children take care of the demons, if they are weak enough. Now that we don't have to worry about the Shikon shards showing up, the children are more than capable of taking care of themselves."

The half demon grunted, apparently unimpressed. Still, years of knowing him allowed Miroku and myself to see the appreciation in his gold eyes. Miroku leaned closer to Inuyasha, and wiggled his eyebrows. "So… what did you do to Kagome to wear her out so much? Hm? Did you do number seven or number eight on the scroll I gave you?"

One of the children glared at Miroku before tugging on my arm. "Sango-sama, Miroku-sama is being a pervert again."

Her companion sighed, her eyes lingering on my husband as he overhead the tattle and grinned, trying not to look too guilty. She touched her pink cheeks, and I was amused to recognize the expression in her eyes as that of a girl with a first crush. "But Miroku-sama is such a _cute_ pervert," she told her friend. Apparently, she was not aware that I was so close to her as she then continued. "Sango-sama is so lucky to have found a man like that and be able to marry him."

I felt the color rise to my cheeks, and I turned to face the direction of the fields, where a large demon was slinking across the fields, calling for the Shikon jewel. We had not had many demons coming to look for the jewel, as we had destroyed it as soon as it was whole, before someone else could try and steal it. Sadly, not all demons had heard about the destruction of the jewel. When they didn't find it, they had a tendency to fly into a murderous rampage.

Miroku made the first move. "Yugo!" The boy he called out scurried to the front, looking slightly nervous. Miroku's face softened, silently telling the boy not to look so anxious. "What type of demon is attacking the village?"

Yugo peered at the demon from our holding position at the edge of the village. He took one sniff of the wind and held his nose. "Ew. It's a stink demon."

"Kari!" The girl who had been staring at Miroku earlier snapped to attention. I was a tougher teacher than Miroku was with the children, and I let her be as nervous as she wanted to make herself. As far as I was concerned, it was up to Kari to make herself learn to remain cool in a fight scenario, but I still respected and loved the way Miroku handled the children. "Kari, how do you handle a stink demon?"

Her pert nose wrinkled in disgust. Like anybody else, she was disgusted at the idea of attacking a stink demon. "Ah," she stammered, thinking. Normally, I would have snapped something about being quicker, that people could have died from the way she was stalling, but Kari was still new. She had only been with us two months. "With water?" she asked uncertainly.

People in the crowd snickered at her timid question, but I smiled at her, and touched her light brown hair gently. "That is absolutely correct. Inuyasha, if you would please keep the demon from attacking any further." Inuyasha nodded, and left Kagome behind to draw his Tetsusaiga and attack the demon.

Miroku picked out someone else, a new girl that had been with us two days and hung around the back, playing with the pommel of her sword. "Sakura," he said soothingly. He cracked a grin and motioned for her to come closer to the front with a look in his eye that would make Kari be jealous. Miroku treated all the girls that way; he gained their trust with his soft voice and with glances that made each girl feel he was looking sorely at them. "Sakura, why is sending out Inuyasha to stop a stink demon such a good idea that can lead to high complications?"

She looked at Inuyasha, and then turned her large eyes back up to Miroku as she answered. "Well, it's a good idea because it's just like what Sango-sama said. He's strong, right? So he can stop the demon from advancing and ruining any more field. But at the same time, because he's a half-demon… um… wouldn't the stench of the demon threaten to knock him out?"

"Precisely. Miroku-sama," even after all the time we had spent together, I still called him that in public. "Why don't you take all those who have their masks fitted, and take care of the demon while I teach these ones about stink demons?"

He nodded, and then realized what he had forgotten to bring. His cheeks began to burn. "Ah, Sango-chan?" I knew what he was going to say and tried to keep from smiling at his cute way of admitting that he had screwed up. "I'm afraid I seem to have forgotten my mask"

I handed him mine as some of the older boys laughed. They knew that Miroku was going to get an earful later on. He leaned over and kissed my cheek before marching with the kids with masks into the field. "Alright boys and girls," I said with my hands on my hips. My eyes inadvertently snuck to look on Miroku as he walked. "Gather close. Stink demons are really sludge demons. They smell so much because they survive by eating feces. Many centuries ago, these demons were actually helpful to humans, helping to take care of old manure, demon feces, or human feces in cities. However, all that changed when war increased, and they began to feed more on battle grounds than on cities. The battlegrounds almost seem to have made these demons insane, and they are now more harmful to humans.

"To destroy a demon, we need to use just what Kari suggested. We need to use water. That's why Miroku and the others are trying to get him to back up to the water. Now, can anybody guess what will happen when the stink demon enters the water?"

Nobody answered, until one shy boy raised his hand. "Um, will it disintegrate?"

"Yes, it will," I answered, giving the boy a smile. "That also means that the water will become contaminated. Now, how do we stop contamination?"

This time, not even the shy boy answered. I eventually gestured to Kagome. "Luckily, we have a priestess with us. The priestess can cleanse the water of illnesses for us, and return it to the way it is now."

Kagome gestured to her bow and arrows, looking confused. "Sango, why don't I just take care of the demon right now? I can purify it with one arrow, and it will disintegrate from that. You don't have to worry about contamination if it's been purified into nothingness."

"I know, Kagome," I said gently. I wished I could have asked her to do that, so that I could save time and go back to bed, take my weight off my aching legs. "But after Kaede-sama leaves us, and I pray that won't be for years yet, there won't be a priestess at the temple until one is found and trained. That could take a long time. I want my students to know how to take care of these things by themselves, so that they can defend places that have no priestess because they won't be relying on their powers."

"But then," Kari slowly asked, "Sango-sama, how do we heal the water if there's no priestess?"

I was proud of her for seeing the problem. "That is what makes these demons so difficult to kill. You see, the reason why it's so hard to destroy is because it's covered in feces. On one as large as this, there can be three feet of feces to cut through until you hit the demon, and then there is their tougher skin to contend with, and aiming for a vital spot is difficult because you can't see where you're aiming. As the demon steps into the water, his true form is revealed and it's easier to kill him. If we didn't have a priestess, then we have three options. One and two, because we have so many of you fighters, is to dump water on him as we fight him, to try and reveal the skeletal demon buried under all that slime, or we can fight him in shifts until it rains. The most common answer, however, is drive him out of the city and find an isolated water system and force him into it."

There was a cry from the field as the now brown water popped and gurgled as the skeletal body of the demon sank to the bottom of the swiftly moving water. I saw Miroku thanking each of the students in turn and nodded to Kagome. She went down and in the blink of an eye, the water she touched with the tip of her finger returned to sparkling blue. I was glad at this sign… it meant I could go back to bed.

-

I pounced on Miroku as soon as he entered our house. I wrapped my legs around his waist, my arms around his shoulders, and my lips found his neck. I moved up to capture one of his earrings in my mouth, tugging on it gently. He was surprised, but as soon as my lips touched him, he knew who it was, and his arms rubbed mine as he sighed my name. "You forgot your mask," I teased. His hands began to rub down my legs, allowing me to lean up so my hands could rub his shoulders for him.

He made some type of affirmative noise, throwing my mask on whatever was closest. Watching it clatter on the table, I thought of my brother, how he always used to forget his mask, and I felt a stab of longing to see him again, to know how he was doing with the girl he had grown to love, the girl we had found him married to when we had last visited him. I shook the feeling away. I would see Kohaku again when I was meant to see him again. Now I was with Miroku, and my hands were rubbing the muscles of his shoulders, feeling the pain from my legs being removed by his soothing hands.

I loved his hands.

"Miroku," I purred, rubbing my cheek against the back of his head. I stopped rubbing his shoulders to start kissing him again. My breath moved over his ears, my lips touching him as I spoke, kissing him between my words. "Miroku, make love to me."

"Again?" he asked before thinking.

Pouting, I tossed my long hair back, so that it hung straight down my back. I switched and moved to the other ear. "_Please_ Miroku?" I asked like a little child. "I wouldn't be asking, but you look so good in this uniform, and we were so rudely interrupted… I like it better when I can wake you up in the morning with kisses and by…"

"Sango," he said gently, "you couldn't even walk after last night. If we do that again, then…."

I slipped off his back and walked around to face him. My smile had disappeared, and now I was worried, and appeared as if I had been wronged. I felt has I had been. I wondered to have sex with my husband. I could barely believe that _Miroku_ of all people was not allowing me that. "Miroku, are you actually telling me no?"

His hands reached around me to cup my cheek. His dark eyes were intent, and happy, feeling me with a sense of pride that made my blood pump faster and my legs feel weak. I licked my lips, and found his eyes following my tongue. He leaned down, kissing my neck the same way I had his, as my hands gripped his shoulders, starting to peel off the armor. "Of course not…I was preparing you for what you were getting yourself into."

"Miroku…" I giggled when his tongue licked the sensitive spot at the bottom of my chin. I threw the armor to the ground before my hands began to work at undoing the armor around his waist. "You've been bad. I'm not going to let you have all the fun."

I wiggled away from him, and pushed him to the ground. I was pleased to see his face light up as I began to strip, and when he realized I was only going to get down to the black outfit, he pouted. His finger spun in the air as he looked up at me pleadingly. "No dancing?"

"No dancing," I answered. I felt the blush rise to my cheeks as I knelt down and began to take off his boots for him. "I know that you want to, Miroku. I know that you want to see it, and I want to make you happy, but I… I don't feel comfortable doing that."

His hands gently took my shoulders and drew me up so that I was laying between his legs, my hands resting on his hard chest. His voice was the soothing kind that made me relaxed and made me want to purr, to cuddle up against him and be satisfied by his hands rubbing against my body. "Then…"

"Meow." Kirara's voice alerted us before she pounced between us, landing on Miroku's chest and butting my chin with her head. Kirara was such a close friend and so fluffy that it was hard impossible to be mad at her for interrupting us. I laughed, and picked her up.

"I'm sorry, Kirara," I told her, kissing her fluffy ears. I accidentally held her so tightly that she told me it hurt, and I had to loosen my grasp. I felt like I had been ignoring her lately. She spent her time with other people than myself. When once she slept with me all the time, she now spent all her time with Shippo, and occasionally one of the other students. I couldn't begrudge her time with another fellow full-demon, but at the same time, I missed her. As much as I loved Miroku, he couldn't make up for the purring sounds of a cat as I fell asleep, memories of years of companionship, or the warmth of a tiny body curled up under my neck.

Someone knocked, and Inuyasha's voice echoed inside our house. "Yo, Sango! Miroku! Can we come in?" He sounded grumpy. No doubt poor Inuyasha was still trying to figure out a way to rid himself of the smell of the sludge demon. Still, I was amazed at his lack of swearing and his politeness. Living in Kagome's world, with an impressionable younger human and a mother looking over his shoulder was a good influence for him.

Miroku told them they could come in, and I crawled off of him, sitting cross-legged on the floor and stroking the cat in my lap, apologizing to her quietly for spending so much time with Miroku. Inuyasha and Kagome entered our house, and when Kagome saw the armor pieces strewn about on the floor, and the color in our faces, she knew what they had interrupted. Inuyasha, of course, was clueless.

Inuyasha joined us on the floor, his hands disappearing into the long sleeves of the red fire rat armor he wore when he was here. "I wanted to talk about that stuff that you guys had mentioned before we left last time we were here. I didn't get much of it, but it was something about pre-training." Kagome slid down next to him on our strange little circle, and Inuyasha's arm slipped around her waist.

My husband, seeing this, moved closer to me, and his fingers slid through my dark hair gently, telling me, promising me that when all this was over, he was still interested in being with me. "Ah, yes. You see, what we were thinking of doing, is taking the older kids out to Inuyasha's Forest, and maybe having them try and hunt you as a group." Inuyasha's gold eyes widened at this idea, and we were uncertain if he was interested or horrified. "It would be non-lethal, for obvious reasons. It's just that this would give the students the opportunity of tracking down a strong demon who knows he's being hunted. They would have to work together to protect themselves from your retaliation, work together to hunt you down, and then to capture you. We've worked with the students before on tracking and team work, but never in this kind of context. Once or twice we might have taken a small group out and had them track Sango or I, but never a half-demon."

Kagome's eyes fell on the cat in my arms. "What about Kirara?"

I nodded, understanding her question. I held my friend a little tighter, and answered for her. "She's getting old, Kagome. Kirara is already more than nine hundred years old. I've asked her, but she's… tired, more often these days, and it takes a lot of energy to transform into her full form. Still, she'll still be here long after I am, but it's usually her and Shippo now. But it's good like that. I have a husband now, so I'm far from lonely, and Shippo has a full demon companion, someone who understands him better than Miroku and I ever could. Shippo really is lonely when you're not around, Inuyasha, and without Kirara hanging around him, I wonder what we ever would have done to cheer him up."

Inuyasha thought about our offer for a long time. Eventually, the subtle strokes I had used on his ego won, and he agreed. Apparently living with Kagome must have changed him, and for the better, as he actually agreed to work with them every weekend that he came back. We were all beaming with pride when he told us yes. We really were a village drawing together to make a better future for people.

Kagome sighed wistfully. "I only wish I could help teach them too, Sango. Unfortunately, I spend most of time here taking over for Kaede at the tasks of a priestess."

I hugged her tightly, letting Kirara sit by me while my hands were occupied before I picked her up again. I grinned when I saw Shippo sneak his way in and crawl into Kagome's lap without any sign of notice from Inuyasha. I loved it when we were able to see all of our friends like this, reunited, healthy, and happy.

"Don't worry, Kagome," I told her as she stroked Shippo's hair. "You have your hands full and all, and what you're doing is important. I'm not going to ask you for anything else. Besides, I can understand what you're going through right now. I feel horrible when you're spending the weekend and I'm not behaving like I used too, and spending all my time with you and Shippo. But I have duties too. It's enough to know that you would help us train our students, to know that you're helping the village in a way I can never understand, and to know that you're happy."

Little Shippo rolled his green eyes, which looked tremendously happy, despite his attitude. "Aw man, I had to come into the middle of the conversation right at the mushy part."

Inuyasha still seemed to have taken no notice of Shippo's presence. He scratched one of his erect ears, his lips twisted as he tried to figure out what duties I was talking about. Shippo saw his confusion and rolled his eyes again. He was still sarcastic. Miroku and I would have to work on that with him. "She's talking about sharing a bed with Miroku, stupid!"

The half-demon raised a hand to strike Shippo for his insolence and for making him feel stupid, but he stopped. It wasn't Kagome that stopped him (as she had long ago removed the necklace with the subduing spell), he simply suddenly realized how much little time we had been spending with them since we had gotten married. His hand fell back to his lap. "Miroku… you two fuck that much?"

Kagome flicked his arm for putting it so crudely. Miroku, however, my wonderful, perverted husband, was already lowering his head and answering him in a solemn voice. "Yes, Inuyasha, we do. Sango just can't keep her hands off of me. Sometimes I'm surprised I can even walk because her beautiful voice keeps me up all night crying for…"

"_Miroku_" I slapped him as hard as I could, the hardest I had slapped him in almost two years. He lost his balance and fell over but I couldn't care less. I think the red I was seeing at that moment was reflected from my own face.

Now, even Kagome was interested. She tried to hide a smile as she looked at me. "Um… how often do you two have sex, if you don't mind my asking?"

Still having not learned his lessons, Miroku pointed at the ceiling and righted himself. "Well, whenever we don't do it at night, she always wakes me up with kisses and by touching me in the morning. It's a wonderful way to wake up the morning. I mean, how could I complain about waking up and the first thing I feel is the hand of my beautiful wife around…"

_"Miroku!_" I punched his shoulder again and he lost balance again. I inched away from him, trying to distance myself from his wandering hands.

Even on the ground, he laughed, and looked up at Inuyasha. "You see? Even know she can't stop herself from making me sprawl myself out on the floor purely for amusement." Rather than risk my anger further, he lounged on the floor, and stayed there so I couldn't punch him again. Kagome called the pose "very Inuyasha-like". I could understand her reasoning. Miroku carried on. "And then there are the times when we do it at night. Sango says that it helps her fall asleep." There was a slight pout on his face, making it sound like it made me go to bed because he was a boring lover.

I dropped the arm that had been about to reach over and slap him. I felt my cheeks darken again, and I looked down at the ground. "Well," I protested. "It does. Sex expels as much energy as demon slaying, so really, it's like slaying a demon right before bed time, and then Miroku's tired and right there and we can fall asleep together. There's nothing wrong with it…"

Miroku was already continuing. "And then there all the times of opportunity. Like when we're the first couple in the village to wake up and the bath-house is all ours, so that we can bathe together."

Shippo suddenly pouted and clambered out of Kagome's arms to sit closer to Miroku. "Hey! How come you don't come and get me when you two are bathing together? I mean, you told Kagome and Inuyasha that you were going to take care of me, and be my family! Mommy and Daddy and I always used to bathe together, so why can't I join you and Sango?" His little face pouted, his hands turning into fists, and his fluffy tail thumped on the ground lightly.

My wonderful husband reached out and drew Shippo to his chest, kissing his forehead lightly. His face softened, and Shippo curled about in his arms, getting comfy and using his bicep as a pillow. "I'm sorry, Shippo. I wasn't aware of that fact. Do you really want us to wake you up before sunrise to bathe with us?" Shippo shook his head so hard that his hair tickled Miroku's nose, and he smiled gently, the hand not supporting Shippo's head brushing his hair. "All right, Shippo. We'll be glad for your company."

Her lap freed from Shippo, Kagome moved closer to Inuyasha. The dog demon yawned and laid down much the same way as Miroku, using Kagome's lap to support himself. She, in turn, was able to play with Inuyasha's ears. Quickly, the pleased sounds from his chest were a pleasant background noise in our comfortable house. Kagome smiled at me. "You know, if you need to have sex more than three times in a day, it makes you a nymphomaniac. I think. It could be more than three times a week."

"I'm not addicted to sex!" I protested. My cheeks began to lessen in color. At least this was a topic I felt more comfortable about, though I was rather sad to be ruining the surprise for Miroku. "I had always thought I would rebuild the slayer village where it used to be. But… if we moved there, we'd have to start over from scratch, and with so many children still learning how to use their weapons, it would be next to impossible. It would only lengthen the amount of time it takes them to learn how to use their weapons. Plus, it's so far away that we'd never be able to see you or Inuyasha. Even if it were closer, you're needed here. It is your shrine, after all, Kagome." I managed to let out a little laugh.

"The village here needs us too. The demons seem to have calmed down now that the jewel has been destroyed, but there are still a few who haven't heard about it at all. So, seeing as how we were here training, and you were still coming here, I thought… maybe it was a good idea to have a child now, while we're settled."

Miroku's eyes widened. I hadn't told him about it at all. Looking at him, I patted his hand. "I wanted it to be a surprise. I hoped that one day I would miss my period, and I could tell you and have it be a wonderful surprise. Then we could have a child before we started moving around. If you thought Kagome and I could get cranky when there was no hot water, rocky ground, and with walking all day, imagine what it would be like if I were with child at the same time." The males shuddered at the idea.

"And then there's Kagome and Inuyasha. Eventually, they'll stop coming and seeing us so often. No, Kagome," I shook my head, "you will. School will move you further away from the well, you'll need to start working to live, or maybe you and Inuyasha will even have children. Either way, soon twice a month will become once a month, and once a month will become every other month. I want you to see what your niece or nephew looks like, I want to be able to tell my kids that their aunt used to play with them, and hold them, and tell them all about you."

Kagome took a moment to realize what I was saying, and she suddenly burst out. "Oh, _Sango_!" She threw her arms around me and I held her fiercely. Inuyasha was spilled out to the floor and he grumpily picked himself back up. Kagome, as of the night before my wedding, had become my blood sister, so why should she not be the aunt of my children? Aunt Kagome. Uncle Inuyasha? Alright, the later was a stretch of the imagination, but the first sounded just perfect.

I began to feel worried as I continued on in a muted voice. "But so far, there's been nothing. Six months, and I haven't been able to conceive yet. I want a baby, Kagome. I want a child now…"

Kagome peeled herself off of me and glanced at Miroku as he held Shippo, staring at us both proudly as we talked in whispers and hugged. "Kagome… We both know of Miroku's reputation. Don't be so upset. Miroku has slept with how many women and yet we never had anybody claim him as a father? It might be that Miroku is impotent…"

Staring at her a second, realizing that she didn't have any idea about Miroku's little secret, I started laughing. I laughed so hard I was crying, holding my stomach. No one knew what it was that made me laugh so hard. Miroku? Impotent? What an irony! That's why I was laughing. I was laughing at the impossible idea that made me so sad, I had to laugh to cover up my real sorrow.

Everyone else thought I was laughing because our group was reunited again, we were safe and warm and comfortable, and a family.

If Kagome was right, it might be the only family I would ever have again.


	5. Shippo

Complete and Unconditional

AN: Don't you just love it when you have a whole day off in which to do nothing but clean your room and write a story? ::sighs and then suddenly hides from the glares people give her:: But… I did my laundry! That's cleaning! And I did dishes… and a project… so what if the rest of the time was writing fan fics?

Oy, I need to study, but I'm too happy. ::grins:: My boyfriend is going to come visit me randomly because he has a day off and so do I. If only this chapter will a little bit happier to match my mood… Ah, well, I'll see what I can add in during the editing to make it a little bit more fluffier. Angst can be fun too, but oppose it with a little bit of fluffiness, and it's beautiful. Keep in mind that these chapters start off in the "present" sengoku jidai (before the big long line thing) and in the earlier years of their marriage after the big lone line thingy, because otherwise things are going to start looking a little funny, and I don't want people getting confused! ::nods:: because then peoples' brains hurt!

Black Element: If Sango and Miroku do have a kid, I guarantee that it will be one or the other. I've seen to many fics where people couldn't decide and they had twins of both sexes. I did decide. I flipped a coin. (Joking, joking…)

Snow-Queen: I am a big fan of irony, but I can guarantee you that Miroku is not really impotent. That would be far too cruel.

Aamalie: Why is it chapters like the last one that make you glad you talk to me on AIM? It could be a dry spell precisely. I should know. The women in my family have trouble conceiving. I took nearly a decade to make. ::grins proudly:: And yes, your opinion is slightly biased, but probably not because you like Sango and Miroku. After all, just because we all want to see them kissed doesn't mean that it's in character for Sango to get piss drunk and then go force herself on Miroku, now is it? ::grimaces at the idea::

Fireblade: Shippo is cute, so hopefully you like the chapter of this title! And "cheerfully perverted" is one of the best phrases I have ever seen to describe Miroku. Myself, I like the fact that all the girls in the school have crushes on Miroku. Doesn't it kind of remind you of grade school where you always seem to have one male teacher that you either have a crush on or see as a father-figure? I wish I had had a teacher like Miroku!

Iggy04: My AIM is JoanTheTiger. I'm just about always online. Why don't you contact me and I will be happy to answer any questions you have then? :smiles: Or at least send me your email address, and then I can send you the answers that way. -

Lily Thorne: It would be a devious little plot twist. And I don't think that sounds selfish. Had I the power to give people cookies via the net, I would give you a box for doing your homework first and then reading fan fics… because for me it's usually the other way around. It also makes me feel fuzy warm inside.

Siren of Erised: You need to get better. ::Shakes fists:: Leave her alone, you stupid germs. (For that matter, leave _me_ alone you stupid germs!) We'll be diseased together!

B4By: I agree. It should just be 'Inuyasha'.

NefCanuck: ::giggles:: Earlier work? This one went up the same day DW was finished. ::grins::

Hoshiko: Impotent: besides the idea of a man not being able to gain or keep an erection (which we already know isn't true), it can also refer to the fact that a man does not ejaculate semen or that his semen is, for lack of a better term: brain dead. If you're a 'Simpsons' fan think back to the episode where Homer's sperm was put into a microscope and the semen were bumping into each other. That is a brain dead sperm.

…and if I got anything wrong, feel free for anyone to correct me. I refuse to look up any more sex-oriented words because I already had to look up a couple wile doing a project on the Emperors of Rome last night, and after finding a word that refers to people using feces during… erm, never mind what it means. (But if anyone wants to know, go read stuff about Commodus and you'll probably find out.)

Enjoy… I'm going to go wash my brain thoroughly.

And I didn't really want to do this, because Italics are going to be a little annoying... but the large italiscized sections are what's going on in the present of Sango and Miroku's lives. The whole idea behind the format is this story is that Sango _is_ dying and they are both reflecting on their lives.

Chapter Five:

Shippo

_I sat beside Sango long after the sun had set. Her hand was colder than mine, and I tried to rub some feeling back into it. Worry had seized my heart, and would not release it for all the praying I did. I prayed and prayed until I thought I had no voice left in me. But that was when I heard a soft sound from behind me, sounding like a sniffle. I looked over my shoulder and I was only vaguely surprised to find Shippo standing there, rubbing his nose with his finger, sniffling._

_"Miroku?"_

_"Come on over, Shippo." He ran to me on all four of his feet, reaching me in only two steps. He wedged himself under my arms, crawling into my lap. From there, he wiggled under my kesa, tucked between my body and the worn, tattered cloth. I did not drop Sango's hand, and my other hand held Shippo to me, a comforting weight, even for such an old man as myself._

_"What's the matter with Sango, Miroku? Why won't she wake up?" he asked of me in a very tiny voice. His large green eyes were worried, and at that moment I was glad Sango was asleep. Listening to him, watching him, it would have been too difficult for her. As it was, it was difficult enough for me. Suddenly, I found myself wishing that Kagome could have wished for us all to become full demons. After all, Shippo was a full demon, and there was no doubt in my mind that he was going to be a wonderful person, so not all full demons could be bad. Then, we never would have had to have put Shippo through this._

_I sniffled, crying myself, though my tears were soundless and Shippo kept sniffling, trying to keep them inside. My deep voice cracked. "She's dying, Shippo."_

_His green eyes widened, and the tears couldn't be held back any longer. They drops landed on my kesa, mingling with hundreds of other pains that the kesa had already experienced. His tiny hands clutched at me, as if by being closer to me he might understand what it was like to be human, to die so early, after such a short life. Shippo didn't understand. He'd known this was going to happen, that because he was a full demon he would outlive Sango and I, but now that he was faced with losing one of us, he couldn't deal with it._

_"But… but why? Why can't she just heal herself? Sango's almost died lots of times before, but she was always able to deal with it! How come this time is different?" His tail flickered swiftly at the end of each question, like it was making a question mark._

_At his questions, I was able to smile, but only slightly. If only Shippo knew how wise he sounded at times! "Oh, Shippo, if we knew the answers to those types of questions, the world would be so much simpler. Why do people die? I wish I knew. I wish I knew why one day my body will give up working and I will die. I wish I knew what it was I could do for Sango to make her feel better, to make it less painful for her, to… stay with her."_

_Shippo looked at our hands. "Aren't you already staying with her? I mean, you're here with her now. Maybe it's just me, but if someone I loved was holding on to me the way you were holding on to her, I wouldn't feel lonely or scared about dying. And plus, this way Sango can see the people that she misses, like her parents and Kaede-sama. Besides, you promised her that you would be together forever, right? So no matter what happens to her, she's always going to be with you." His humanoid ears twitched. "Right?"_

_"Right," I agreed very softly. Shippo was indeed correct, but I still felt lonely. As if sensing my loneliness, Kirara climbed to my shoulder. Her body was so light I didn't notice her presence until she began to purr in an attempt to comfort me. I kissed her ears, and thanked her._

_How could I be lonely when I still had all the people Sango loved that I had to love, to watch over for her, now that she was leaving me?_

_You know, somehow, I had always imagined I'd be the first one to die._

_

* * *

_

I entered our house, a smile on my face. One of the boys had beaten me at fighting with daggers. I was hardly the _best_ dagger fighter around, but he had only been with us for three months. The child was a natural fighter. Tomorrow, I was supposed to start fighting with him at swords. If he could be as good as a sword as he was with daggers, he might be able to beat Sango with one arm tied behind his back. Our students were learning, and growing. Many of the ones that had been with us for the past two years were eager to get out into the field. Our stationary life was coming to an end. Soon, we would have to start hunting for our fights, living a nomadic life again. With so many students, it was going to be interesting.

My smile disappeared when I found Sango laying on our bed, her shoulders shaking with the force of her sobs. I've seen Sango cry before, and lately, she had been more and more emotional. She had been bursting with happiness when she announced that she had missed two month's worth of periods, and we thought that it had meant that we had finally been able to make a life. When I found her crying so hard that to hide the sound of her tears from Shippo in his room beside ours she had to bury her face in blankets, I knew that we had been premature.

"Sango?" She lifted her head and then buried it again. Sango rolled to face away from me, and I could tell she was trying to become composed. I sighed, and sat beside her on the bed. My hands rubbed her trembling shoulders. "Sango? I can't help if you don't…"

"My period started again. It was heavier than normal. It… I was worried, so I went to Kaede-sama. She might be so old that she can't see anymore, Miroku, but she still has her wits." Sango slowly sat up in bed, and she turned to face me. I brushed my fingers through her hair, now and then touching her tear-stained face. "I'm trouble conceiving, Miroku. There's nothing wrong with you… my… my body just doesn't want to have a child." Her voice cracked, and she found herself choking on her words. "I'm perfectly healthy, Miroku, but my body doesn't want a child. I want us to have a child so badly… how come my body won't let me have one? Why does it have to rid itself of any life we try and create?!"

She flung her arms around me, and I could do nothing but stroke her back and make soothing sounds. Sango wanted a child as much as I did. I wish I had answers for her. Slowly, I pulled her away from my neck and I kissed her gently, tenderly, kissing away all the tears on her cheeks, straightening out her luxurious hair. "Sango, shh. It's going to be okay. We'll have a child sooner or later, and until then, we will adopt every lost child we can find. We'll have so many adopted children we'll get to the point where we can't even kiss without hearing one of them making some type of comment. If it's going to hurt your body, then I don't need a child. A family doesn't have to mean that the little joys in our lives come from something you and I create together. A family means people that we love, and we love all our students, don't we? Aren't they like our little children?"

She nodded, but I could see my words didn't convince her. In all honesty, my words barely convinced me. I wanted us to have children; together. I wanted at least one, one to be our legacy to the world, to teach to everything we knew between the two of us, to be our blood and love joined and embodied. They would have her fighting abilities, and my holy powers. They would be more graceful than Sango, more honorable than I. At times my dream was so real, that I saw the child before me and I could reach out and touch it.

I held her tighter, kissing her more and more, little pecks on her lips and cheeks to try and calm her down, to silently tell her that I still adored her. I wished I could undress her, kiss every part of her scarred skin the way I used to, worship her the way such a goddess was meant to be worshipped, but even I knew that it was too soon after such a hard blow. Eventually, when the time was right for Sango, she would come to me and kiss me in such a manner that I knew she was craving to be held and touched in the same way I did. I would comfort her with my body then, and no moment sooner.

Still, I held her and kissed her, drew the covers over her after removing her yukata for her. I fetched her a glass of water, and a bit of broth, something easy for her system after such a hard blow, and I barely left her side.

Eventually, she talked as she fell asleep in my arms. She told me about her parents, the things that she remembered about them. I told her that she was lucky, my appearances lighthearted at the happy topic of conversation, but deep down, I was sad.

"I don't remember much about my parents," I told her finally. "My mother died shortly after childbirth from wounds that had never fully healed. I can't remember anything about the way she looked, but Mushin used to tell me she was very beautiful, with pale skin, dark hair that curled a little at the ends, and smiling eyes. He said that she was always smiling. The only thing I do remember about her was how she smelled. She always used to make her own soap, her own secret recipe, and I had a jar of it when I was little. When I missed her, I used to open it up and smell it, and she suddenly seemed closer."

"What about your father?" Sango asked, looking hurt that she had caused me to remember my loneliness. "Do you remember… do you remember _good_ things about him?"

I thought a moment. I remembered my father's death; knowing that that was how I was going to die, seeing the wind tunnel take him, it was one of the most horrifying experiences of my life. "I remember very little about him, besides his death. I remember that he was always a little sad, but that when he held me, I felt… better. I mean, he didn't seem so sad when he hugged me. I look a lot like him…"

"No you don't," Sango muttered as she slowly fell asleep in our bed. She moved closer to me, her warm breath heating skin that was already hot from holding her against me. "You must look like your mother, because you're always smiling. It's…" She yawned, interrupting herself, and when she held me back again, her arms were tight, but she wasn't holding to me to keep herself together, she was doing it to simply because close to me. "It's part of why I love you."

Sango was fast asleep when I heard a noise behind me. I looked behind me to see Shippo standing there, holding his tail in his hands and stroking it as he stood and fretted. We had forgotten that no matter how hard we tried to be quiet, somehow Shippo could always hear us. That was usually why when we were intimate, it was at times when Shippo was away, or so deep in sleep that we could not disturb him. I motioned that he could move closer, and he waddled on his fox legs to the bed. "What's wrong with Sango? Why is she crying?"

I looked back down at her before I reached over and picked up Shippo by the collar of his shirt. I gently lifted him on the futon, and he immediately dove between Sango and I, under the warm covers between us. His tail pressed against me, and he lay so that he could see Sango's sleeping face, his tiny hands holding to the sides of her breasts in childish innocence.

"We're having trouble having a baby, Shippo," I told him softly, knowing that he wouldn't understand. Hell, I barely understood.

"But that's okay." He turned to face me, though his gaze kept slipping to Sango. As confused as he was, he was still worried about her. He knew something was wrong, his youth just couldn't get a grasp on it. "Isn't it? Because you still have me! I don't get it, Miroku. You two adopted me, right? So, how come you still want a kid when you have me? Aren't I enough for you?"

"Oh, Shippo," I crooned, holding him tightly and kissing his soft hair. A large part of me thought his worry was so cute and innocent that I wanted to laugh. I managed to keep my laughter inside of me, knowing that it would only confuse him more, and probably hurt him. Shippo was pouring his heart to me, after all. I dried his chubby cheeks for him. "Shippo, Sango and I are proud to think of you as our son. But just because we have you, it doesn't mean that… no, ah…."

I stumbled over a way to try and tell him what I wanted. Sighing, I started again. "Shippo, it's an adult thing, that one day you will be able to understand. I don't think I can explain it without sounding insincere. When you get married, many humans want children, and they want to have many of them. It doesn't mean that they only have so much love to give and that they need to find people to receive that love, or that they aren't satisfied with how ever many children karma allows them, it just means that they… want to give a body to the promises they made. To join our bodies together, our blood, everything that makes us look like who we are, together, to create a new life that has some of the best qualities from each of us. We want to keep our blood living on longer. We want to impart some of ourselves into this world, and when we are gone, hopefully the things we will have passed on, both mentally and physically, will help to make the world a better place."

I smiled at him. "Does that make any sense to you?"

His face contorted as he thought about it, and eventually he sighed. He lowered his head to Sango's chest, his ear laying over her heart and listening to her heartbeat as he continued to try and understand. "Yes, it does, but I still don't see how you aren't happy with just me."

"Shippo, we _are_ happy with you. And we can be happy with just you! But we want more. We want you, and two children of our own flesh and blood. I wouldn't even mind more than that. I want enough children so that our family alone could be an entire village, but Sango means too much to me. I don't want to lose her. And frankly, any children I have with her will be a blessing. Oh, Shippo, you don't know how many times I dreamed of something like this… Of a wife, a house, a _real _family. But never of someone like her."

I leaned over him and kissed Sango's lips tenderly. She barely moved under my touch, and I slowly settled back down on the futon. I kissed Shippo's head again, and winked at him. "I'll let you in on a little secret, Shippo. I love you like a son. I love you so much, Shippo."

The little demon's eyes grew wide, and his mouth dropped open slightly. I don't think that he ever expected me to say something like that to him. He was speechless as I smiled at him, and then he began to look as if he were going to start crying again. "You… you do?"

Nodding fiercely, I withheld another happy laugh. It felt good to get this off my chest, and proud when I saw that he wasn't disgusted by the idea of a 'mere human' loving him. "Yes, Shippo, I do. I have for a very long time. I only wish that I could live forever so that I could be here to see the wonderful man I know you will turn into, and tell you how proud I am of you. I do love you, Shippo. You're one of the most important people in my life. No matter how many children Sango and I have, or adopt, I will always love you, and everyday, that feeling will always grow, because love is always growing, and it's infinite. We don't want children to replace you, or love more than you, Shippo, we want _more_ children to call our own, to nurture and love, but that doesn't mean that Sango and I will ever feel any different about you. We both love you with all our hearts, Shippo."

The tears broke, and he let go of Sango to tackle my neck, his arms still too tiny to be wrapped around my shoulders. "Miroku!" He sobbed into my shoulder, and I didn't mind at all that I had seemed to become everybody's pillow for crying. I was glad for the warmth of their bodies and the knowledge that I could be there for them.

For a long time, Shippo cried, and eventually, when he regained his breath, he tried to smile. His grin was wavering. "Does this mean that I should call you father?"

I was as touched at the idea of being called that as I think Shippo was by being told he was loved. How long had it been since he had last heard that, anyway? I shook my head slowly. "No. That's a special name reserved for your real father. I will always be Miroku, Shippo. But if you started thinking of me as your father, I wouldn't mind that at all, and I think that your real father would understand that."

He nodded, but once again, I could tell that he barely understood. That was okay. I don't think that I understood all the way, either. These things were complicated, and I think that in the end, understanding them was truly impossible. Perhaps a full demon could understand, as they lived so much longer than we humans, but they all seemed to be like Sesshomaru, who I doubted would ever consider dabbling in philosophy about families or love.

Yes, I loved Shippo. But part of me still wanted my own son or daughter, made of Sango and I, of the love we shared. I would always love Shippo, and we could always adopt. I know that it was nobody's fault that Sango's body could not bear a child to term nor conceive a child in the first place. It was simply the way of nature, but part of me was still hurt. It was not that she had promised me a child and that I felt bitter because she had broken her promise. I was merely sad at seeing my dream of a child with my powers and her strength and beauty, with perhaps my teasing attitude and her glorious smile, that I saw dying in front of me without ever having first been born.

Late in the night, the little demon still between us, I was staring at the ceiling, deep in thought. I felt Sango's cool hand touch my cheek, and I turned to see her. She looked better now that she had gotten a bit of sleep. She was determined, but when her eyes met mine, I was graced to see the pain and fear behind walls of warm honey brown. "Miroku," she said in a voice like the wind. I had to wonder if it was all a dream as she leaned over Shippo to kiss my lips gently. "I do want to keep trying. I'm not going to give up on this. Never."

I captured her hand, kissing her fingertips gently, my lips moving up her wrist to try and soothe her, comfort her with light touches. "Are you certain?" I whispered. She snuck her hand past my mouth to brush my hair. "If it hurts you, I don't…"

"I promised you children!" she fiercely pointed out.

"But if I don't have you there to help me raise them…" I couldn't think of it. I couldn't think of what might happen if the child we had might kill or hurt Sango, incapacitate her in anyway. Oh, I know, this is Sango, and at times she seems impenetrable, but I had to be realistic. After all, I had a little demon that saw me as a father-figure now.

Sango corrected herself. "Fine, then. _I_ want to have children. I want to have a lot of children with you. My body is my body, and eventually it will do what I tell it to do. I'm not going to let something as small as this ruin all the plans we have together, Miroku. It's not going to kill me, it's not going to hurt me… at least, it's not going to hurt me until I have to bear the child, and that's when I get to lean on you, and you'll help bear some of my pain. I mean, bearing a child couldn't be any more hellish than defeating Naraku, right?"

I managed to smile. "Right," I agreed.

One day, we'd have a child, but until then, we still had our own little family, that had been to hell and back and could easily fit on one thin futon, where we could all fall asleep with each other.

I would love Shippo so much that he wouldforget that anything bad had ever happened to him, and once we gave him a little brother or sister, I still would feel the same way.


	6. Generations

AN: Sorry that this chapter took so long to get out! I was a little concerned about the lemon in it. Let's just say that this was one of the more descriptive ones I'd ever written… and then came the harsh editorial process. Why is that for me to consider a sex scene "undescriptive" so I don't get kicked off of , I need to remove word such as 'penis' while 'breast' and 'nipple' are suddenly kosher? What is that we have against the genitals? Ah well, questions to ponder for another day. On a side note, not only does my lunch suck, but for some reason AIM hates me and I had to create a new account. I am now FluffOtaku.

Snow-Queen1: I prefer to think of it as irony. Miroku has fallen for the one girl who can't bear him a kid. Besides, she's just not getting pregnant. There's a difference between having trouble conceiving and not being able to bear a kid period. ::winks::

Hoshi: I like it when they have a kid too in fanfiction! It's always so cute! Bur frankly, I would like to see one where they didn't have a kid because Miroku tells Sango he… wait… I can't give away any surprises… (just kidding, just kidding!)

Aamalie: I'd like to point out that you do talk to me on AIM and you _still_ worry about my plot twists. Don't worry. The plot twists in 'The Blooded' make this one look like a straight line. And the reason for why you liked Shippo is simple: people, I have noticed, usually write characters the way they see them. So Kagome is usually more maternal or more of a spitfire depending on the author's point of view, Miroku is a cute pervert or a flat out lecher, Inuyasha is varying shades of dumb, so on and so forth. And few people seem to like Shippo, so they write him as being annoying and childish. I, on the other hand, love Shippo. I think his character design is adorable, I love his relationships to the other people in the group, and I feel incredibly sorry for him because he really is too young to be seeing and doing what he's doing. Honestly, I think he's the bravest character in the show.

And for anyone who points out that an eighty year old demon should be brave, I'd like to point out that demons, like people and half-demons, age at different rates. Hence the reason why Shippo can see more than Inuyasha at times. But enough of my rant…

Blood Red Emerald: I did like the last chapter. It was Shippo that did it. ::grins::

Fireblade: I am a happy to say that I never had a crush on any of my teachers… they were all too old. I wish I had one that had looked like Miroku, though. ::drools:: Do these teachers you mentioned look like him? Because if they do…

Lily Thorne: See Aamalie's response for my own feelings on Shippo. I rather wish that I had included Kirara a lot more, because I know that she's often forgotten and I know that I'm guilty of that as well… but I had no idea of what to do with her. ::sighs::

Hoshiko: It will take a couple of chapters if it's ever going to happen… I need to build up the drama. ::tries to hide the devil tail::

Siren of Erised: I have to take things in my nose for my old. It's icky and I hate it. Anyway, sidestepping why some guy is taking care of you, I think that it will be entirely possible to find someone who is like all three. I have one that is like Miroku and Inuyasha. So really, it's not _im_possible.

Black Element: Physically dying. Once again, ::smiles:: the whole idea behind the story is that Sango and Miroku are at the end of their lives and are reflecting back on their life together as a married couple.

DarkHeart: I like several. In fact, thanks to me liking several characters, I've been able to form my picture of my ideal guy: a sweet talking fighter and shameless flirt with odd colored hair, pretty eyes, an earring, and a big sword. And hopelessly cute. So tell the people who say you're weird to shove it. Politely, of course. ::smiles innocently:: And you will discover why Sango is dying eventually. Eventually, it will all be explained. And the teacher you described rocks socks. I love teachers who stick up for their students.

Ninalee-chan: Hopefully a sugar-coated angst pill will do until the happy ending.

MG25C: I'm making it sad because life is both happy and sad. It can't be sad all the time, nor can it be happy all the time. And please, don't make me confiscate your hammer.

Iggy04: Your email address didn't turn up in the review. I'm going to try to figure it out anyway! (There are only how many domain names to go through?) Then I can answer all your question. Until then, feel free to keep picking my brain. If the author of the story can't answer these questions, then I need to go back to elementary school. Or something.

Koda-san: Well, Siren of Erised had a good idea: it could be because of everything Sango has ever gone through. She's been bled how many times? Nearly died how many times? Let's see, the initial introduction, the snow-youkai episode, the time after she fights Inuyasha near the very beginning… so on and so forth. It can also be genetics. My Mom tried for ten years to have me. ::grins::

Anyway, everyone, enjoy!

Chapter Six: 

Generations

_"Miroku-sama?"__ The voice was quiet, but when I turned around, I knew why. Kari stood in the doorway. She had grown up into a beautiful young lady, the strips of red in her hair falling from out of the knot she wore at the base of her neck. She'd removed her slaying uniform and wore a simple yukata, coming into my house unarmed and simply as an old friend. Her brown eyes softened. "We heard that Sango-sama wasn't feeling very well. So, we all came back."_

_My eyes widened. Long ago, we had gotten so many students that many of them had left the village to settle down in other places, find a house and a family, and stay in that one village forever, taking care of any demons in that area. It had been a blessing for us, as it meant that Sango, Shippo and I could stop walking everywhere and settle down again. Kari had become one of our best students, and had decided to start rebuilding the demon slayer village where Sango first grew up. Kari had always been Sango's favorite of all the female students we had, saying something about the young girl reminding her of Kagome._

_"All of you?"_

_She nodded. "Yugo, myself, Yuri, Nara, we all came back. We thought… we thought that perhaps seeing some of her old students might cheer her up. And we…" A child leaned around her dress, her hair mingled with the faint red of Kari's hair and Yugo's dark black, and Kari shooed her back behind her dress. She blushed. "We thought that she might like to see the next generation of slayers."_

_I very slowly smiled, and bowed my head slightly as I showed Kari and her child the way to Sango's bedroom. I mean, to our bedroom, though as of late I had been sleeping very little. The child stood in front of me, looking up with inquisitive eyes. She was no older than ten, no older than our little Shippo. Her arms reached up, and I picked her up. Kari's daughter kissed my cheek tenderly, holding to my old robes. Holding a child again, I felt myself smile, somewhat sadly. "Hello," I told the child in my arms. "What's your name?"_

_The child was silent, and Kari answered, tenderly stroking the fine hair on her daughter's head. "Her name, believe it or not, is Sango." Kari's cheeks blushed. "She's the oldest of all the children any of us have had, Miroku-sama. Since it doesn't look as if Arashi is going to be having children, it was decided by all the students that the first boy and girl would be named Sango and Miroku. She doesn't speak yet. We all know she can, and occasionally we've heard her talking to her dolls, but other than that, she hasn't spoken out loud."_

_"She's beautiful," I told her, trying to hand the little Sango back to Kari. Sango, like her name sake, refused to leave my side, and continued to cling to me. Kari laughed, and told me to keep holding her. I was more than happy to do so._

_Sango was awake when we entered the room. Kari explained to Sango everything she had to me, and when she was introduced to Sango-chan, I only wished that I could have brought such a look to her face myself. She struggled to sit up in bed. Beads of sweat broke, rolling down the sides of her face from the exertion. Kari, sweet Kari, tried to tell her to lay back down and relax, but I stopped her with a simple hand gesture. Sango needed to get up, move about. She had been laying down too long, and that worried me. At least if she were moving around, I would still know she was alive._

_"You named her after me?" Sango whispered. Kari nodded, and Sango stared at the child who stared back at her. Her face softened, and Sango-chan climbed higher, standing on Sango's legs. Sango-chan couldn't have been more than half of Sango's body weight, so this was not a big concern._

_Sango-chan smiled at the woman after whom she was named. "You're really pretty," she said suddenly, making her mother audibly gasp. "Momma always said you were pretty. I hope that I look like you."_

_Sango-sama started to cry._

-----

"I can't believe it!"

Laying on her stomach, her chin on the palm of her hands, Sango let the little child play with her long hair as she was watched over by we four adults, and two demons. Kagome picked up her daughter, telling her not to be so rough with her friends, and kissed her cheek before she set her down. She watched her daughter proudly, and then she turned to Sango. "You can't believe what? The fact that I have a daughter, or that I'm still coming around here to hang out with you two when I have a shrine to take care of?"

"Both," Sango said. Kagome's daughter waddled over to Sango again, playing with her long brown hair. She liked playing with Kagome's hair, which was now down past the small of her back, but she always got in trouble when she played with it. Sango, on the other hand, didn't yell at her. The older lady tugged one of her little puppy ears, and smiled. "Little Kaede."

The real Kaede was getting old, so old she could not leave the Shrine, the stairs too much for her failing body. As of five years ago, she had been permanently blind, but she could still see the colors of auras, and her mind was still as sharp as the edge of the Tetsusaiga. Occasionally, she called Kagome Kikyo, but that was as elusive as her mind became. Because she couldn't leave the temple, Miroku and Sango, as well as some of the older children, went up to the shrine and received instructions in what to do with the people of the village, mending wounds and healing sicknesses.

Inuyasha was the one to pull Kaede-chan away from Sango this time. He kissed his daughter's forehead and she sniffled when she couldn't pull on Inuyuasha's silver hair. He wore it in a braid now, most of the time. He said that his hair looked odd enough in Kagome's time, and that he didn't really feel like cutting it. He sheepishly added on that Kagome had threatened to ignore him for a month if he did. She liked his hair long, she said. "Why does she like playing with hair so much?" he grumbled as she managed to snatch his bangs.

I ran my fingers through the brown hair trying to fall over Sango's shoulders, and smiled softly. We'd had sex the night before, and I was still feeling happy from it. Sango had stopped talking about children long ago, each time after she missed her period making the failure of her body harder to get over, and longer before she would allow me to be intimate with her. I, however, still held out hope. I knew that from one of our encounters, her body would accept the child we would make, and that when the child came, years of trials and pain would be over. "Oh," I said, smiling foolishly. "I can understand why Kaede would like playing with Sango's hair."

Watching all of us, Shippo wedging his way into Kagome's lap so that she could hold him, comfort him, Kagome said what we were all thinking. "Isn't it odd how we all came to be here? Isn't it odd what we all are now? I mean, did you ever think, one day back then, walking from village to village, that in a decade from then, we would have all been married to each other, with an adopted child to care for and one little quarter demon who likes to pull on things wandering around us?"

We all shook out heads. No. We had never imagined that we'd be here. The hand playing with Sango's hair stopped, holding her shoulder and pulling her towards me. She sat up so that she could place her head on my shoulder, her free hand landing on my hip. I was glad that I was here, though. I didn't want to be anywhere else.

Interrupting our personal time, people came and asked Kagome for help, as they didn't want to bother Kaede so late at night. Inuyasha told her to go and he would take care of putting Kaede the child to bed, as it was well-past her bedtime. Shippo went with Inuyasha, and I could never begrudge Inuyasha the time he spent with Shippo. The little demon may have looked up to me as a father-figure, but he also did so to Inuyasha. Our friends came and visited us every other weekend, and Shippo could see me any other day of the month. Besides, Inuyasha is half demon, and secretly, he was helping Shippo learn to use more of his powers. I could never do something like that.

Sighing, I leaned my head against Sango's, happy. I was so happy. I was so content that I could find no words to express myself, and I didn't want to say anything incase it interrupted the lingering sounds of Kaede's laughter as Inuyasha tickled her.

Mistaking my sigh for something else, Sango's voice fluttered over the delicate sounds of fairy laughter in my ears. "One day," she promised me again, "we're going to have a child like that. A beautiful child, all our own, who can call Kaede a cousin." I could hear the unspoken questions in her mind as she thought of Kohaku, a delicate subject still close to Sango's heart and beloved. Would our child have another cousin already?

"I know," I told her. I gripped her shoulder, and pulled myself around to see her. Quickly, I seized her lips with mine, kissing her hungrily. Shippo was away, Kirara had taken one look at my face as I had looked at Sango and had fled for fear of her ears breaking, and so we had the house all to ourselves. I stared at her, watching her face darken. Nearly a decade of marriage and Sango was still attracted to me desperately whenever I was suave and romantic with her. I poured months of waiting into my voice, smoothing it over as my hands found hers.

"Sango," I sighed. My fingers stroked hers. "My love, in a decade, I still have not tasted you enough, felt you enough, to be able to satisfy my desire to… hear you sigh in pleasure, watch your cheeks blush, follow you from heaven to heaven." This time, my kiss was gentle. "Sango, allow me to grace your bed again. Now."

Blushing, she brushed aside my bangs, running her fingertips down my face. Her voice was a deliciously husky purr, but I wasn't sure if she was actually teasing me back or not. "My bed is always yours," she said with a smile. "You are my husband after all, Miroku."

"Then allow me to touch you, to kiss you." I leaned forward, and kissed her cheek, kissed her lips, kissed her neck. Gentle, soft kisses I knew she liked, and that made her breathe in deeply. When she let it out, it was my name. "Or does my lady want something more tonight? Does my lady feel like taking the sweet and loving monk to bed tonight, or does she want to have the devilish demon slayer?"

Giggling, Sango grasped my arms and pulled me down, kissing me back, though her broad smile kept it from being a mind-blowing one. "Miroku, why in the world do you have these little ridiculous little things? Why do you call yourself the monk and the demon slayer, and why does one have to be sweet and the other aggressive? If I wanted the aggressive monk, what would I do then? Or what if I only wanted Miroku?" She tilted her head as she looked up at me, tracing my facial features, and she sighed. "Miroku is all I ever wanted."

This piqued my interest. I arched an eyebrow before I began pulling at her yukata, slowly kissing the skin I was exposing. "You taste good… so, why is it only Miroku? I mean, when I think of Sango, I think of many things. I think of how beautiful you are, how strong you are, the way I always have to watch myself around that sharp mind of yours. When you think of me, do you attach anything else onto the name?"

"No," she sighed, brushing my hair, running her hands over my shoulder. She giggled. "Well, there is one thing that I think of when I think of you. Perverted. I… I love your perversion."

My head snapped up. I hadn't even gotten to the good stuff yet. Her breast wasn't even exposed, just one shoulder. My heart pounded. "Every time I hear you say that it always manages to catch me by surprise." I sighed. "Tell me again why you love it, Sango?"

She laughed again. I was glad that I had gotten her into such a good mood, but giddy was not exactly the mood at which I had been aiming. I went back to kissing her shoulder, slowly revealing more and more skin. Her fingers played with my hair as she though and spoke.

"Oh, you're so… I just love you, Miroku. And… and you don't understand, do you? Miroku… look at me. I'm married. I'm happy. I've been married for nine years and I'm still in love with the man I married, still looking forward to when I wake up and find you beside me. As far as I'm concerned, the reason why that's possible is because you took my hand and showed me… you." She sighed, and kissed me quickly, a peck on the lips. "I wish I could explain it better."

My face was teasing as I looked down at her. "So… you like the perverted side of me? I know you like the groping, but what about the horrible jokes and the teasing and…"

"Yes!" she laughed loudly. I never got tired of hearing that answer. Sango looked beautiful when she laughed. I brushed her black bangs away from her face so I could see more of her. She blushed shyly. "Miroku… there is always one thing I've wanted to try for a long time… How much do you feel like being a pervert again?" My eyes began to glint with interest. I sensed a challenge. Sango leaned up her head and licked my chin. "I want you to do whatever it was you thought about doing way back when, all those years ago, before we shared a bed. I want you to be charming, and romantic and seductive, just like you were back then. Make me feel like I did then, like anything is possible. And other then that… do whatever you want to do, and I will cooperate."

I felt like she was giving me a wonderful gift. I stared at her a second before I gripped the corner of her yukata and pulled, ripping the top part off the rest of the way. Sango stared at me, shocked. I smiled as I began to kiss her shoulder. "Your clothes always did get in the way."

She smiled up at me as she took my hands and sucked on her fingers gently. "You're such a pervert… my pervert." My hand molded to her breast, my thumb running over her nipples, and her breath began to shake. Her skin felt as smooth as when I had first felt it. As I grinned, I quickly bowed my head and took her nipple in my mouth, biting it playfully. Sango's free hand wrapped in my hair, holding my head still as I rolled the sweet skin in my mouth, listening to her sigh. I groaned when she bit back my finger, and I hungrily whirled to treat her other breast the same way.

The obi was thrown across the room, and I pulled her robe open. I wasn't even going to undress her all the way. With all the running around we had done, taking care not to get caught when we were intimate with each other, the sex we had at those times had always been nice and gentle… well, as gentle as it could be when Sango started clawing my back on more than one occasion.

What I mean to say is that we always made sure… I wanted quick sex. The kind that you can do in the bathhouse before someone comes in, between changing the guard, between the classes we taught. I'd heard from In… ah, from certain sources, that they were amazing, when done properly. There was something about the aggressiveness of ripping off clothes, of taking people while you were still in the midst of foreplay, that could leave you for wanting more, never satisfied.

At least, when done properly, the women were never satisfied, thanks to how many orgasms they can have, and their more… complicated… forms of arousal. I pulled my fingers from her grip to peel off her undergarments in one swift movement. Her skin was completely at my fingertips, every inch of her, and I could do anything I wanted. I held myself above her, her fingertips stroking the muscles in my arms. My arms were already shaking from the force of the lust in my veins. I kissed her softly before I moved to the ear, licking the outside of her ear. Rather than the cautious, cat-like licks she had given to me, these were loud, hot, kisses. But nonetheless, I felt her body relax, and then suddenly tense up again when I asked her to undo my pants for me.

Her slender fingers undid my pants, pushing loose my erection, and I swear she giggled and said something about how easily men are aroused. Her long lashes made her sly look almost audible as I still continued to kiss her skin. "Can I play?"

My response was simple. I peeled her hand away from me, and I pinned it above her head. I lowered myself on her slightly, rubbing myself between her open legs. Sango let out a little moan of pleasure, not necessarily from the touch, but from the mimic of sex it played, causing her to remember what was coming next.

Normally, I would have played my part as the romantic seducer, easing her fears with my words so that she was fully relaxed when I entered into her. That way, it was easier, and less painful. However, ah, how can I say this without sounding insincere? You see, the whole point of this particular plot was not to be ready. I know that it would be more than slightly uncomfortable for Sango, but I also knew she was a very tough woman. She could handle anything, and I wasn't going to be any rougher than this.

Just because that I knew Sango was strong enough to do anything didn't mean I should go out of my way to be more aggressive with her, to treat her roughly. I believed that love meant that you understood and respected what they were capable of, not to take advantage of those skills.

Besides, I had a master plan, like I always did when I was younger. Ten years of marriage had done nothing to curb my cunning.

My hands cupped her cheeks as I pulled her closer, pulling myself into her. Sango's hands gripped at the floor, and I was glad that I was so far away. She did have a tendency to claw now and then. I did not go in deeply, but it was enough for me, and enough to make Sango long for something a bit deeper so that I might touch her and give her the pleasure only such acts can conceive. I positioned myself back over her, barely moving, and my lips again began to play with her nipple, knowing full well how good it made her feel.

Her angry sound of protest began a soft moan of pleasure. She leaned back her head, her hands stroking my hair. When I left her breast to nuzzle her neck, licking it here and there in little kisses, she let out a whimper of protest, and she moved her hips a little, reminding me of where I was.

Almost obediently, I went back to her breast, my touch turning into long, slow movements that echoed the way I very slowly pushed myself a little further into her, and then retreated again. She made a sound of confusion that soon melted away as my strokes began to pick up. They were short, and quick, giving Sango none of the pleasure from touching her intimately, but giving me the satisfaction I sought almost immediately as most of the attention was focused on the more sensitive part of my skin. No, Sango's pleasure came from the light touches on her hips, and from my lips and tongue as I continued to play with her.

Soon, I withdrew myself, panting heavily and tired. My body was already starting to look as if I had been working out for a long period of time, and Sango's cheeks and lips were dark pink, a sign of the blood beginning to flow faster in her body. She looked up at me with a sly look that was one of being hurt. After all, I had been able to reach that heaven we sent each other to, but Sango had gotten nothing.

"Is that it?" she asked, somehow able to hide the smile I felt in her voice. She was trying to goad me into more.

Let her think her ploy worked! Let her think that I had only been thinking of satisfying myself!

Kissing her, the touch lasted for a long time, simply letting our breaths mingle and our lips touch. I became suddenly gentle and soothing again, rubbing her stomach as I lay down beside her. I toyed with her mouth carefully as my hand began to stroke lower and lower. I felt her shiver as I slid my fingers into her, searching for that sensitive spot I had found years ago. I wanted to watch her.

Her lips were parted, her breath shallow. I wiggled out of my pants the rest of the way, my shirt still covering me. And Sango was naked. My wife was naked, and I could see everything. It was the sight that made everything so arousing. I loved the way her chest moved when she breathed, the way the muscles in her arm flexed when she squeezed my arm, reassuring me that I was touching her in a manner that pleased her. I loved watching her mouth move as she said my name silently, and soon, as the passion grew, so did the noise. Moans of pleasure, mews of it, my name, reassuring yeses and sighing for God, all from my touch.

It was so very wrong, but also so very arousing.

My touch picked up speed, rubbing her to give her what I had already received, to awaken that fiery passion that had long ago caught my attention, drawing me to her like a moth to a flame. My free hand reached over and stroked her cheek. Her eyes snapped open, and she found me staring down at her, the hunger in my eyes satiated by the sheen on her skin, the color on her face, the way her body moved when I touched her. And as always, underneath it all, the sheer love I had for her, for everything she did.

"You're so very beautiful," I told her. I didn't care that it wasn't the most suave thing I had ever said. I didn't care that it might be cliché. The fact was, it was the truth.

"You've been… watching me?" she gasped, and my answer was a blush. Her red lips smiled, and she pulled me down for a sweet kiss that ended when I touched her in a manner she liked (accidentally, I assure you, as her kisses are far too enjoyable to want to break one on purposes) and she let out a hiss of frustration. "Miroku…" The name was almost a childlike whine as she looked up at me with those soft eyes, wanting further release.

Don't doubt that I wasn't talented enough with my hands alone to be able to do it that way as well. I merely wanted to make her more aroused so that this time, I could touch her deeply, and we would both be able to find release. By that time I would be ready again to release my seed, hopefully doubling our chances of getting a child. It was out of this hope that one of our encounters that day might make Sango pregnant that caused me to enter her twice during that… session, not out of obsession.

She had also told me to be perverted, to be that man who was interested in trying anything once.

I leaned down, still playing with her, still gorging on the sight of her stomach muscles as they flexed, at the way she breathed, on the sounds she made. I loved her expressions during sex, the way every little thing she did was an encouragement to me. I gave her ear a little lick with the tip of my tongue.

My body covered hers as I pushed her, guided her into the position I wanted, laying her against the pillows, still kissing her skin. Almost as soon as I entered her, I heard my name fall from her name and watched her fingers tighten on the mattress of our bed the way they normally would around the skin of my back. My hands slid up and down her back gently, feeling the curves of her body as I leaned back and watched her shake and shiver from excitement, watched her try to remember to breathe as I touched her exactly where she wanted. Lowering myself against her, my chest rubbing against her back as I found my own excitement, I clung to her, and followed her to heaven and back.

-

We slept soundly that night. When I awoke, her lips were parted next to mine, her head leaning against mine and our bodies were tightly wound together. I couldn't tell where I ended and she began. God, it was wonderful! I looked at her, and she opened her eyes at the same time, as if we were so connected that my consciousness had caused her to wake.

Sango smiled at me, the glorious smile that meant she was truly happy, and that stroked my ego, making me pleased in more than one way. I was glad that I made her happy. She mouthed hello to me, pointing lazily to the wall that we shared with Shippo. Her hand then slipped to my stomach, stroking it gently as she mouthed, 'hungry?'

I nodded, grinning, and was about to kiss her senseless, hungry to wear her out again and then steal the blankets when she was too tired to fight me when someone knocked on the door to the hut. I groaned, and Sango cursed like Inuyasha used to, holding me tightly when I went to open the door.

It didn't matter that she wouldn't let me out of bed. The door opened anyway, and we heard Yugo's voice. He found the way to the bedroom, and his brown eyes bulged when he saw the two of us in bed. His blush could have blinded us, and he spun around. "Sorry! I… I didn't know that you two slept n…n…naked!"

Sango sighed, and stood up, holding the covers under her shoulder to clothe herself. "Yugo…" she sighed again, unable to complete her sentence. She grabbed her yukata. "Just keep facing in that direction."

"Yes, Ma'am!" His back straightened as he stood at attention, following the direction of his teacher. "I'm sorry for interrupting you, Sango and Miroku-sama, it's just that… someone from another village appeared this morning. He says that a group of wolf demons attacked his village and they're holding many of the women and children hostage, until the humans there acknowledges that they're superior and gives up their territory so that this wolf tribe can have more land. He wants the demon exterminators to take care of this. He's currently being cared for in the common house."

"Good," I said, pulling on my robes, my armor already under them. For some reason, I still felt uneasy leaving the village in the armor. The robes felt more familiar when I took up the road. I grabbed my shakujo and patted Yugo's shoulder. "You did good telling us this."

Sango pulled her hair out from under her collar, blushing slightly when I handed her the hairbrush. "Thank you. Yugo, regardless, it was impolite to enter without knocking. Five minutes of horse-stance." I grimaced at the idea. I could hold horse-stance for an hour and ten minutes now, but just the idea of it sent me into repulsion.

Yugo began to obey, and Sango laughed. She brushed his black hair, and gestured to the door. "Do it outside, silly. A warrior needs to learn to be both polite and serious. In this case, you forgot your manners in your haste. This isn't a punishment, Yugo, it's just a reminder to mind your manners, otherwise you might forget them completely one day. If I really wanted to punish you, I'd give you more than just five minutes of horse-stance, because I know that you're capable of doing much more."

He left with a bounce in his step. I stared at Sango softly, and then reached out and pulled her to me, kissing her gently. My fingers stroked her cheek, and she stood up proudly. "I love how you can do that."

"Do what?"

"Be so… ah, just being able to hand out a punishment in such a manner so that your victims won't become bitter and resent you for it. I don't know how you can do it."

Sango laughed, and gave me a quick kiss before she wrestled out of my grasp and pulled out large packs. "It's easy, Miroku. How do you think I was punished when I was little?"

I had never really thought of Sango being punished. She was always so formal and polite that I thought she had always been that way. The idea of Sango being rebellious and needing punishment was an intriguing one, as well as one that was very arousing. I arched an eyebrow and slid closer to her, my hand on the small of her back and quickly falling lower. "So…" I said in a purring voice, trying to draw the information from her with my suave attitude, "what type of stuff did you get in trouble for?"

Sango merely smiled over her shoulder. "I'll tell you when you're older."


	7. Mood Swings

AN: I loooove Christmas vacation. I didn't get as much done today as what I wanted to do, but it's only 3:30, so we will have to see what else I can do today…. And the important thing is: I finished a project and I updated! So I am happy!

Snow Queen: I am glad that you liked it. Myself, I thought it was weak… but I'm weird like that. I have very low opinions of my writing skills. Actually, I'd like to rephrase that: I have a very low opinion of the content. I… oh, screw it. I give up. ::smiles:: But I am glad you liked it.

Blood Red: ::whistles innocently::

Lily Thorne: this is going to sound terrible of me… but when I read your review, I think I nearly peed laughing. Killing Shippo… my god… what I great plot twist! But I love Shippo, so don't worry about him. No. All the angsty-stuff is just leading up to the mother of MS fluffy scenes I will have written… in this story, anyway. _Trust me_. At least, I like it, because it's not all clichéd with people shouting out 'I love you' at inopportune times, or… I'm shutting up in my ramble now.

Chadrific: I try to make thins bitter sweet or at least slightly amusing to lighten the sadness. Besides, things come in threes. ::grins:: But how do you know that their kid won't take after Sango? Maybe it'll be a male who is completely terrified of the opposite sex. I mean, perverts aren't born, they are made… and unmade in the same way.

Siren: My drugs aren't making me high. I'll admit it. I haven't been taking my medicine. I have a cold. Minus the occasional sneeze, I'm good. Maybe I'm allergic to school…

NefCanuck: I liked it. But now I really do want to write something about he trouble she got into when she was younger!

Lightsword: Working the story through flashbacks seemed like easiest way to cover years of MS.

Demon: ….Actually, I think Yugo turns out just fine. Truth be told… I rather like Yugo, as much as his character isn't developed and such. Everyone can fight over Miroku and I'll take wolf-boy while they are distracted.

Ninalee chan: Inuyasha's hairstyle was inspired by Mikaila-sama. ::drools over Mikaila's pretty pictures:: And I like the way they are turning out too. True, no doubt they have their fights, but I can't stand fighting like that, so I put one in, just because I can't make their marital relationship too perfect… but, well, what can I say? There was a lot of yelling when I was a kid and now I hate it. I have trouble raising my voice. That's why I love my roommate so much. She doesn't like yelling either.

Starzki: Heh. You should have seen the unedited version. ::grabs the soap to go and wash out her mind::

Iggy: Sorry I'm not online more. I get distracted easily, and need to concentrate on the fic if I was going to update today.

_Enjoy!!_ ::grins and fixes her halo because her horns have upset it::

Chapter Seven: 

Mood Swings

"Kari, watch out!"

We had been traveling for two weeks. We were one week away from the village that the wolves had taken over when we were attacked by a mantis demon. They always liked the intestines of youthful young males, and we had plenty of them. So, in the middle of rolling up our sleeping bags and making breakfast, a giant praying mantis demon attacked, aiming specifically for the males in our group.

Everyone reacted quickly. Miroku reached for his staff and ofuda, but was knocked into the chest by a razor sharp arm, sending him flying. I momentarily froze when I heard the sound of his body hitting the tree trunks around us. That moment of hesitation cost me dearly. I had reacted by immediately grabbing Shippo and Kirara, still asleep on our sleeping bags and directly in the path of the monster. That's when I froze, and because of such, I had to dive out of the way of the crushing feet of the monster.

And so it cam to stand on my weapon.

Yugo came up to me, glancing where Miroku had fallen and at the weapon under one of the demons armored feet. He gave me a questioning glance. "I can fight fine without it," I told him. I was pleased to see our students lining up, ready for instructions. Some of them were already fighting the demon, keeping it distracted. I gently woke Kirara. "Take Shippo and the males out of here."

The face of the boy beside me was crushed. "Sango-sama! That's not fair! I can stay and fight!"

We heard cries from the ranks. I had no time to argue with Yugo. Instead, I drew my sword. "Go! Yugo, this is my order: get your friends out of here. Only the women need to fight this battle! Now get out of here!"

His face scrunched, looking confused and withholding an impertinent answer, but he finally turned, barking out names and telling them to retreat. It made the girls confused. My stomach lurched as I ran to stand with the women who were shooting arrows or hooks at the mantis demon, keeping it at bay. I held it tightly, and ignored the pains in my abdomen to take control of the situation.

I looked around. Who was the fastest girl here? "Shana, when I give you the signal, I want you to run forward as fast as you can and take out that thing's foot. I don't care which one, just take out one of them, okay. All of you with arrows or any other long-range weapon, I want you to use it to focus on the eyes. Understand?" Heads nodded on either side of me. "Launch the first wave!"

Arrows, stars, and hooks reached up for the eyes of the demon. The demon shook his arms and its head rolled back. "Aim for the soft spot at the back of the chin! Shana, now! Aim for the joints!"

The lithe girl ran forward with her drawn sword. The demon had recovered, and I was busy yelling at people to move when I heard the demon scream. I turned back around and found that Shana had been successful. She was currently on all fours, retching into the grass at the gore that covered her body and at the stench of the blood. I was proud of her, but I wondered if there was anyway I could have prepared her for the outcome of her actions. Three legs leaking dark blood lay in the long grass.

"Everyone back up!"

I was surprised at the voice that yelled when the demon began teetering. It was Kari's. I was proud of all my students! We all backed up, and the praying mantis demon fell, landing ungracefully on its two large bladed arms. I hollered out the names of two more of my students. "Keep the arms busy! Anyone, the weak spot of a praying mantis demon?"

"Under the neck and between its eyes, but the first if hard to hit and the second is armor plated, so you need to be right up close to it." The voice was close to me. I turned to see Kari at my side, her cute face drawn into a tight line.

"That's correct." I marched right up to the demon and I slammed my sword into it with all my strength. Hot blood struck my face, but I didn't care. Mantis demons were one of the few that didn't have poisonous or toxic blood. They had other weapons at their disposal. I would never have been so bold if there weren't a crowd of able-bodied women behind me.

Turning, I began wiping the blood of my face. I knew I looked like a bitch, and sounded like one too, but I didn't care. I left my sword in the demon… for now. I had more important things to worry about. "Three of you, go and find the males. I sent them off, and I don't know where. Use chalk to mark your path so you don't get lost, and holler if you get into trouble. The rest of you, see to the injured."

One of the girls pointed at Shana, her voice wavering. "Sensei? Um… how do we fix something as bad as that?"

I laughed, despite myself. Shana laughed as well, pulling off pieces of skin and flinging it back at the dead demon. "Don't worry. It's not mine." Shana, it seemed, had made a full recovery.

Leaving the others to their devices, I marched to the trees where I had seen Miroku get thrown. I wanted to run to him. God, how I wanted to run to him. But I didn't want to let the students see how nervous I was. I didn't want them to get worried too. I was sure Miroku would be just fine.

His name was a whisper on my lips as I stepped into the long grass, trying to ignore the drops of blood on the tree that I knew were from him. His foot came into sight first, and when I saw that I lurched forward, not giving a damn anymore. The students were busy anyway! "Miroku?"

He lay curled up in a ball on the ground, a tiny pool of blood on the ground, the red liquid running between his fingertips. His face was tight with pain, and pale, but when he heard my voice, he looked up and looked a little better. "Is it dead?"

I nodded, and gently touched his shoulder, drawing him unto his back. I peeled his hands away from his chest. A gash started at his stomach, all the way up to his shoulder. I smiled down at him gently, stroking his hair. "You're going to be just fine, Miroku. It's long, but not deep. Can you move at all?"

"Not really. It's actually kind of comfortable here. I thought I'd just take a little nap and let everyone else have fun with a mantis demon. I've already have my fair share of fun with them." He held up his right hand, bloody though it was, and I remembered that a mantis demon had sliced his kazaana once. He closed his eyes, his head moving to rest on my legs. "I think… I think a kiss might make it better, though."

Grinning, I shifted slightly and leaned over him to kiss his mouth gently. Of course, once I kissed him, I couldn't stop kissing him, the nice little kisses that let our breaths mingle and letting us taste each other without arousing anything that would require us to "get a room" as Kagome had said before.

"Will Miroku-sama be okay?" Kari asked from the clearing. She peered into the grass and saw what we were doing and automatically turned red, though she smiled. That's when Miroku raised his hand and I felt it land on me, rubbing the curve of my ass gently, and I reacted as I always did, hitting hard enough so he saw stars.

"He'll make a full recovery."

-

We moved the camp site. The males returned, and as I was cleaning off my sword, I felt a small weight jump on my shoulders, and immediately recognized the feeling of the fuzzy hair and the tiny teeth that grazed my cheeks when the weight spoke. "Sango! Why did you send me away? I've helped you fight before! I could have helped this time!"

Gently, I pulled Shippo from my shoulder to hold him against my chest. I put the sword back in the sheath and I turned around to find all the males in our group staring at me. All of them wanted answers. I arched an eyebrow. "Didn't Miroku tell you?"

"Tell us _what_?" Yugo asked. I would have given him push ups for his tone of voice, but I let it pass this time. I deserved that kind of tone of voice.

"I already told the girls about this. It was one of the first things I taught them. There are some demons who only go after certain sexes or classes of people. For instance, I would never let a group of my girls fight a frog demon because they like to collect their bodies and keep them in stasis until he needs a soul to eat. And I don't like keeping a bunch of males around a mantis demon because if the demon succeeded in getting a body, the first thing she'd do is come after you boys. She would mate with you, and then she would eat your souls and organs after gratifying herself. That's why she went after Miroku, even though he didn't even have a weapon yet, and I had my sword. That's why she didn't put more force into the strike that took him down. She wants to mate with males before she kills them. You boys would only have been getting in the way. That's why I sent you off. It wasn't because you were incapable of fighting, it's because you would have been the targets, and we would have lost many of you to injuries. Praying mantasis don't know their own strength; that strike easily could have killed Miroku."

I kissed Shippo's forehead, and handed him off to one of the other girls in the groups, smiling at him. My stomach hurt again. "Now, if you boys all don't mind, I have one more lecture for you, all of you, and then I need to go and change Miroku's bandages."

I picked up the boomerang. "Does anybody know why this didn't break even though a demon stood on it? Does anybody know why my sword was able to go straight through that demon's scales?"

Everyone was quiet, and then Shippo took the initiative. He knew why. His fuzzy tail twitched. "I know why! It's because they're made from demon parts! That's why they're so strong and sharp and stuff!" He smiled proudly, and then he shrank in Kari's arms. "Um… it's okay that I answered that, right Sango?"

"Of course it is, Shippo, and you're right, of course. Demon slayers all use parts that come from demons. We use their scales for armor, their bones and teeth for weapons… So, this is what I want you to do. Soon, scavengers will come. We need to be gone before then. I'm not going to assign anybody posts. You have to do that yourselves. Should something happen to both Miroku _and_ I, you need to be able to group yourselves together, fight on your own. So, what we need is somebody to start a fire and somebody to cut open the demon, to cut out strips of meat and smoke them. We'll take as much with us as we can, both to use in case we run out of animals to hunt, and for reserve food for the villagers when we free them. Next, we need to keep a few of the scales for reparations to armor. And finally, we need to collect the blades on the sides of the arms. Those of you who do this last job, you have to be careful. They're sharp. As for who ever cut out the strips of meat, use my sword to start."

I tossed the sword on the ground, and began to walk away, picking up Kirara and the medicine kit as I walked. "Everybody did good today, though."

When I had walked away from them, I cuddled Kirara close to my chest. "Thank you Kirara. Thank you so much for helping to take away my boys and Shippo." I felt my eyes begin to water as I wondered what I ever would have done without Kirara for all those years. She merely meowed and I let her down, and she headed back to watch the new generation of slayers work and I went to find Miroku.

He leaned up against a tree, his robes and armor beside him, a container of water at his side in case he got thirsty, and he lazily opened his eyes when he heard me approach. "Am I still the only one injured?" I nodded, and sat down next to him. "Good." His fingers curled against his wounds slightly when he struggled to sit up straight, allowing me to start undoing the bandages.

I leaned down my head, kissing his skin, and feeling surprise run through his body. My eyes sought out another white scar on his tanned skin, and I kissed that one as well. A third, and a fourth I kissed as well, before I felt his fingers in my hair, pulling me to a stop and drawing me around so that he could kiss me. Miroku always surprises me with his chaste kisses, leaving me wondering how someone who seemed as perverted as him on the outside could be so sweet and simple o the inside.

"What are you doing?"

I wrapped my arms around him carefully, leaning my cheek on his strong shoulder. "Just kissing you, wanting to make you feel better."

His laughter echoed into me. I always felt better when Miroku was laughing. "Oh. And here I was thinking you were trying to make me aroused because you wanted me right here and now. Which, of course, even in this state, I wouldn't have minded much. In fact, with our students not so far away, it actually would have been quite interesting. I mean, can you imagine what would happen if we were caught?"

My blush was so warm Miroku's shoulder could have burned off. "Actually, I try not to think about that. Sorry, but getting caught doesn't sound as intriguing to me as it does to you." I was quiet a moment, as Miroku's arm snuck around my waist. I brushed his fingertips with mine. "Miroku, my stomach's been hurting a bit this morning…."

His body tensed beside mine. Still, he tried to pretend that he didn't know what that could possibly mean. "So? It's been a stressful morning. And I hear that killing that demon was a bit bloody. Maybe you're just not used to the carnage. I mean, when's the last time you killed something other than dinner? I'm not saying that you're… you know, weak or anything, Sango, just that maybe you've forgotten how much blood and smell there is to killing. I know I have."

My fingers wound with his, and tensed. "I've also missed my period…"

Miroku cut me off, giving me a gentle kiss, keeping his voice steady and low, nice and soothing. "What do you want me to say, Sango? I'm not going to tell you that you're right and that just because you're missing your period _once_ and you have an upset tummy that you really could possibly be miscarrying. Because I don't. I don't believe that at all, you've just gotten yourself thinking that way! So what do you want me to say, Sango?"

"Tell me it will be alright!" I cried, holding to him tightly, the sound of my sudden tears hiding the way he winced from me as I cried, clutching on to him. I was strong, I knew I was, but when it came to the subject of my body not doing what I wanted it to, it hurt. It was like that time I had been control of a succubus, but then… yelling, screaming at my body to move to the left, to miss, to soften my blows a bit, compared to telling my body to bear a child, the matter of the succubus had been _easy_! Miroku was my rock, because he believed in me more than I did myself, the same way I thought he held the whole world in his hands. "I know that it won't necessarily be okay, but tell me that it will be anyway!"

His voice was so low it was a whisper, and his hands were soft against my back. "It will be okay, Sango. It will all be okay."

-

We moved again, putting several kilometers between us and the corpse from, and sleep was uneventful. Miroku's few words had eased over my mind, and I slept like the dead. When I awoke, I was still wrapped up in Miroku's arms, a cat laying between our feet and a fox-spirit currently using her tails as pillows when an hour before, he had been curling up between Miroku and I. Miroku was still fast asleep.

I glanced at the sky, and calculated it as being only three in the morning. I wondered why I was up so early, and closed my eyes, ready to go back to sleep. I yawned, about to curl up again, and thinking about teasing Miroku into waking up with me so we could go and enjoy the hot springs by ourselves when I suddenly felt the urge to vomit.

Climbing out of bed, I'm afraid I was in such a haste that I woke up everyone in or on my sleeping pouch. They all raced after me as I ran into the bushes, and I wished that they wouldn't. I wished that they didn't need to see me fall to all fours and vomit.

I wished I hadn't need to have done that, period.

Miroku grimaced slightly, and knelt beside me, rubbing my back and pulling my hair from the sides of my face, putting it into a ponytail for me and holding it in place so that I didn't mess it up. He made soothing sounds, and was patient with me, not saying anything as my body shuddered, sending me into dry heaves, trying to vomit though I had nothing left.

Shippo, however, was far from quiet. "Wow, Sango! I've _never_ seen anybody throw up so much!" One quick glare from me later, and he was quiet.

When I was finished, Miroku picked my up in his arms and carried me back to bed. He tucked me in, a very quiet Shippo sitting next to me with wide eyes, and Kirara resumed her place at the foot of the sleeping bag, her tails flipping from side to side and ears twitching as she stared at me, curious. Miroku fetched me a glass of water before he sat next to me. "Drink it slowly, Sango. You don't want to get dehydrated, but drinking it fast isn't a good idea either."

I drank it slowly, as he had ordered, and it was a long time before I spoke again. Miroku was sitting beside me, and I lowered my head into his lap, wrapping my arms around him, and he brushed my hair soothingly. "Go ahead and ask, Miroku. I know you want to."

"When you say that you missed a period… how many did you really mean?"

"Would you believe three? I just… didn't say anything earlier because I was afraid that if I made a big deal out of missing three month's worth's of periods that we'd start getting excited, and then if it didn't work out, then I wouldn't have gotten your hopes up." I felt my face soften, and then smile when Shippo's face popped up in front of mine, making a comical gesture or two with his eyes and tongue. I rubbed his head affectionately.

"When Kagome was pregnant, Inuyasha said that she got cravings for the weirdest things," Shippo said thoughtfully, tapping his lips with his finger. I was actually a little surprised that Inuyasha was having such nice conversations with Shippo. They were good for him. His large green eyes peered down at my face. "Do you have cravings for weird types of food?"

Reaching out, I grabbed his little fox leg and grinned. "Yes. I have a craving for fox." Shippo let out a little screech that turned into a giggle when instead of biting his leg like I was pretending, I planted a sloppy raspberry on his stomach. I giggled, feeling my husband look on approvingly. "Actually, though, I do kind of have a craving. I wanted some of the food Kagome has. You know, like the chocolate. And I want that watermelon fruit she brought us once. Better, I want watermelon _and_ chocolate."

"Somehow, I think that finding you chocolate and watermelon is just a little out of our league." Miroku kissed my forehead, and his smile became lecherous. I could practically hear his body release hormones to make his blood start to boil. "Women become more amorous when they're pregnant. I don't suppose that you feel like having sex more often than you usually do, do you?"

My face began to blush; it was the deep color of red I blushed when Miroku first flirted with me or groped me, and he smiled to see it return. Because I had been getting more familiar with Miroku (and thus sex), the blush didn't appear as often as it used to, and I _knew_ that he was missing it! "Actually, it's funny. I thought it was just me, but… Kagome once said that men could become aroused at the drop of a hat. Lately, I've been finding myself getting aroused by the oddest, simplest things; a pile of hay… socks."

"Socks?" Miroku looked about as perplexed as I felt when I first saw a sock and thought to myself: 'If Miroku were here, I'd have sex with him until we passed out from pleasure.' Miroku, however, eventually smiled deliriously. He picked up a leaf, and held it out to me with puppy-dog eyes. "Can you _please_ pretend it's a sock?"

Rolling my eyes, I looked up at the two men in my life. "Look, don't say anything, okay? I don't want any of the students to know. Then they'd start treating me differently, and I don't want to be coddled. Besides, it… it… it could always be another false alarm, and I… don't want to go through that again, so no matter what signs I may be giving, I don't want anyone else to know about this. We're just going to keep on being regular me, until, if I am pregnant, a child is born. Understand?"

Both of them nodded. We all settled down to sleep again, as it was very early, and Shippo wandered back to his own futon. Personally, I think his nose was just a little sensitive for what my mind was going through. Now that the topic of sex had been brought up, I found that I wanted Miroku. Now. And covered in honey. Mm, honey!

As if picking up on my thoughts, I felt his hand stroke my stomach carefully, slipping between my legs. I rolled over slightly, allowing him more room, and he took the hint, though I was half-asleep. His hand slipped underneath my clothes, flush against my warm skin, and he shuddered.

His lips brushed my ears as he spoke, and I can't remember what he said, but whatever it was, it made me suddenly shut my legs and roll over, trapping his hand where it was and so tight that he couldn't move an inch. I think I was actually cutting off the circulation to his fingertips.

Shippo giggled from his sleeping bags. "She has mood swings too. Yup. Sango's pregnant."


	8. Reunited Warriors

Complete and Unconditional

AN: I'm planning out the sequel to this story right now (I'm a sucker for trilogies!) and it's being a pain in the butt. However, since I did get some work done on it, and since this poor story hasn't been updated in awhile I figured I would put up chapter 8. Nice, long, plump chapter eight where I introduce a whole new character… one I haven't even seen in the anime before! So you'll all have to tell me what you think of her!

For all of you thinking that Sango and Miroku are out of the woods: didn't anybody ever tell you not to count their chickens before they're hatched? For all of you not counting your chickens: your prudence is inspiring. I wish I had that kind of sensibility!

Aamalie: The socks will return in this chapter and the next!

Wow! I can't believe how many people want Sango to have a girl. It's impressive. But I'm afraid that the sex has already been determined, and nothing can change that. How was it determined, you ask? Easy. Fortune cookies. Although, I do like Chadrific's idea of the gay male son…

Lily: it made me laugh because it was so unexpected… and it sounded like something I would seriously do! And as for what is going to happen to Sango in childbirth. I'm evil. They don't have drugs. It will be hard enough without me screwing anything up on them!

Iggy: Love making… maybe. But there will be some turmoil in there too. Lots of turmoil. In fact—I'll spoil it; they fight next chapter—I don't know where the material for their fight even comes from. It was … just… there!

Demon Exterminator Barbie: I love Yugo and Kari! I want to be Kari. She's so cool. I wish I could find a way to give her a bigger part and make her more developed, but…. ::le sigh::

Koda-san: Actually, that does sound cute. It's just a little scary because Kirara is, like, five hundred years older than Shippo or something crazy like that.

Siren: I need to… wait… crap. I am getting my ears pierced in a week or two. Damn. ::grimaces:: I forgot I promised my boyfriend I'd suck it up and get my ears pierced over Christmas break because… well… earrings are pretty, and I like pretty things. And if I ever become pregnant… may god have mercy on anyone I meet.

B4By: Thank you, but don't neglect studying!

Chadrific: I am Canadian, yes. ::smiles proudly:: And I love Shippo too.

Ninalee-chan: I believe firmly in a Sango/Inuyasha friendship. They are both the more quiet, introverts of the group, and so they seem to have an understanding of each other because they are both rather similar. And I love the way you made my Sango sound. I don't think that I have ever read anything so beautifully phrased and deep about one of my characters. Thank you, very much.

Hoshiko: You can email me or contact me on AIM and I am more than happy to answer questions or offer help. In fact, I'm really quite pleased to do it. Just as long as I'm not doing homework because if that's the case, I'm not allowed being distracted! ::laughs:: I neglect my homework a fair bit… Which is horrible of me, I know! And I'm not going to do anything about Sango's suggestion in 'Bluffing'. Frankly, I _know_ I can't write something like that. What can I say? I have issues.

Furyou: Be careful what you say, love! The mood swings might come back and haunt you…

Chapter Eight: 

Reunited Warriors

I had thought that because I had asked Shippo and Miroku not to treat me differently, that they would adhere to my wishes. However, nothing can stop Miroku from being the man that I love, and part of that included his desire to protect. And, as I was bearing his child, from the very moment when I had told him I had missed three month's worth of periods, all of that protecting nature had become focused almost entirely on me.

We arrived in the village slightly behind schedule, and I'm afraid that it was my fault. We often had to stop in the mornings because of my need to vomit, but other than that, I was perfectly fine. Of course, I couldn't hide what was happening from my students for very long, and so by the third day, I had a group of kids bringing me water every time I so much as rubbed my stomach, and two strapping lads by my side to lean on in case I got tired. But, I never did get tiered. My body was behaving perfectly normally, minus the state of arousal I felt at least twice a day, the morning sickness, and the desire for odd foods, but even that, I hear, is normal for a pregnancy.

The village had become well-fortified in the time it had taken us to arrive, from what the messenger had told us. Spiked walls lined the outside, but we could tell from the bony bodies of the citizens that they were very slowly losing, and were running low on food. Suddenly, the students were all very glad that we had brought smoked meat for them, and had a large supply for rations.

We shared our food with the villagers, and they filled us in one what had happened. The women and children had been taken away and were being held prisoner by a pack of wolf demons, who said that they would release all of the villagers unharmed if the males packed up all their belongings and left their territory, as the mining operation they had started had cleared away all of the game.

We'd gotten no farther than this when an alarm sounded. Everybody grabbed their weapons, and we raced to the lookout platforms. The wind tugged at my hair, and for a moment I felt vertigo, but it was only my queasy stomach. A group of wolf demons, looking almost as skinny as the villagers, stood on the ground, humanoid and beast alike. The beasts wound around the legs of the human demons, and the human demons all glared up at the walls.

I realized suddenly that the demons could easily have destroyed the city's defenses and stormed the village; I had first thought that they had good defenses because the demon slayer village had had just the same walls up to enclose it, but then I realized: it was the archers and guardsmen along the walls of my old village that had truly been the problem. They had been hardened warriors, while these were simple farmers.

They should have been dead weeks ago! Why were they still alive?

A human woman was bound with her wrists behind her back, famished and dry-eyed as the tallest, most muscular wolf demon held her up for all to see. Her toes dangled on the ground. "Humans!" he bellowed. "You still have not given up your domain! Therefore, we will make you a new offer! Either surrender your lands and leave, or else none of you will make it out of here alive, and everyday that you remain, one of your kin will die. To prove how serious I am…."

He grinned, and the woman struggled. My ears turned pink from the oaths she was using. "She will be the first one to die. I understand that she is the wife of your finest warrior, is she not? It's a pity that I couldn't have more fun with her, but I fear that my woman might not like that idea…" He grinned and glanced at the forest, where I saw a flash of red hair and a pretty flower as a woman turned away, disgusted.

'Ayame?...'

Shippo had seen it too. He looked up at one of the village elders. "What group did you say the wolf-pack was?"

The elder, however, was not listening. He turned to the others, a worried look on his face, and when I heard what he said, I froze. "Where is Kohaku?"

_Kohaku_!

That was how the village had lasted so long; that was how the fortifications were just like the old demon slayer village… My eyes were wide, and I stared down at the girl that still cursed and struggled. That was Kohaku's wife!

Before I even thought about it, I unlatched the hiraikotsu and flung it down at the demons before me. Kirara, hearing the same thing, leapt into the air, landing as the larger version. Her fangs glistened, her coat was shiny, and she looked better than she ever had before. She lunged at the demon, who, sensing the attack, used the girl to block. Kirara anticipated this and she grabbed the woman in her mouth gently, carrying her back to camp as she would have a kitten.

The wolf demon leader roared with fury, and the wolves attacked at Kirara, but at this point Yugo and Kari, the two of the oldest students we had with us, had recovered their senses as well. "Aim for the wolves!" they shouted in unison. "Keep Kirara protected!"

Miroku was instantly proud of them. He was still recovering from the shock of hearing Kohaku's name. He had wondered why Yugo and Kari had stuck around after nine long years of training, when they could best us at many things (either fighting or at social things) but when they take control, we remember why they were still with us. They weren't satisfied being simply good fighters, or smart. They wanted to be the best, and… well, they were much like Miroku and I. They wanted to learn everything we knew and to help teach what they knew to others.

An array of arrows shot out from the wall, keeping the demons from reaching Kirara as she needed to gain enough momentum to reach back over the walls. The woman she held was perfectly calm now that she had gotten away from the alpha demon. Kirara landed on the inside, and gently placed the woman on the ground, and she was immediately pounced on by friends and relatives.

I grabbed the elder before he could go anywhere. "This Kohaku you mentioned, where is he? Was he a demon slayer such as myself? Does he look like me? He's not injured, is he?"

Kari stared at me with wide eyes, her mouth moving to my brother's name. Whispers went through the crowd, but they all kept focused at the job at hand. Yugo told them to spread out to all sides of the walls, and sent others to work at making more arrows, and gather rocks for sling ammunition. However, it was still my husband that leaned over and whispered to Shippo. Shippo bravely swallowed his fear and pulled out a leaf from his pocket.

As everyone was in a bustle of activity, no one saw the ungainly bird flying over head, following the direction of a red-headed wolf demoness.

The elder led me to a hut and admitted me, giving me privacy when I told him that I thought the man he mentioned might be my brother. Miroku was about to do the same thing, but I grabbed his hand and dragged him inside with me. I didn't want to do this by myself; besides, the students could take care of themselves.

I swallowed, and choked on my own fear. People might have teased Shippo for crying about the stuff he had to do sometimes when it scared him, but he still did them, so as far as I was concerned, that boy had more courage than I did.

I took nervous steps forward, and choked again when I called out my brother's name. A match flared in the darkness of the stale hut, my senses able to pick out blood and a face I never could forget, no matter how dimly lit it was, or how long it had been since I had last seen it.

"Sango?"

Everything vanished, and I threw my arms around my brother, crying harder than I could remember. "Kohaku!"

-

"What happened?" Shippo inquired, watching Ayame dangle her slender ankles in a stream. "I mean…"

Ayame smiled at him with nothing but kindness, but even young Shippo could see the loneliness in her eyes when she compared her current life, and the life she could have had with Kouga. Like Shippo, she had not aged at all since we had last seen her. "Shoryu took over the pack… because I married him. He's the strongest demon we have, and that makes him the leader, until someone comes along who can beat him. He's the one who wants to take the human village."

"Because they scared away the game, right?" His fox tail moved from side to side, and Ayame fondly remembered the way that Kouga's tail used to move from side to side whenever he became frustrated. And Kouga always had such nice legs, too!

Ayame frowned and made little splashes with her feet, irritated. "That's just what he says. The humans didn't scare away the game. _He_ did. He let the other wolves hunt as much as they want, eat as much as they want. As a result, the game is all dead. If we wanted the humans to leave, we could have attacked them at any point, and slaughtered them all. But he promised the other demons a hunt." Shippo was confused, so Ayame made one more attempt at making it clear to him. "He wants the humans to leave so that he can hunt them when they leave. He wants to slaughter the humans."

"But you can't because…"

"Of Kohaku. That boy's as strong as his sister, that's for certain." Ayame smiled and stood up, tapping off her feet. "Tell the others I said hi. I shouldn't stay away any longer than I have to. Shoryu gets jealous easily. I'll try to come at night, or early tomorrow morning."

Shippo's eyes widened, and he jumped up, his hands in tight fists and his body brimming with happiness. "You mean, you're going to help us?"

She frowned, but knelt down and stroked Shippo's head none the less. "Of course I'm going to help you, sweetie. That bastard Shoryu ruined my clan; he perverted it, he ruined the land, and I want to see him pay. Even if it means that _I'm_ going to have to take over running stuff!"

-

I held my crying brother in my arms. Finally, our tears of joy had ceased I could look down at his face. His freckles were gone, his body aged, and little scars were on his body, but he still looked strong. In fact, he looked stronger than he had when he was a little kid. His leg, however, was what prohibited him from defending the village, and it was more than just the fact that his wife and young child had been taken hostage that had made his face gaunt with worries and trials.

"So, you're a farmer now?"

"Yes. I help create life: grains, and some animals… you should have seen our farm. There are always baby animals. It's wonderful. Just wonderful." He sighed, and then winced. "Thank you for saving my wife, Sango. Please, save my daughter. I know you can. You've always been stronger than I was."

"But you…"

"I'm going to be out of it for a little while." He gave me a tired smile. "How are things with Miroku? Are you happy?" I nodded and his smile grew. He leaned his head back, relaxed. "Good. You know, when I found out that you two were getting together, I didn't think that you two would be good for each other, but when I saw you two together when you came to visit me all those years ago, I was so jealous. The way you two interacted with each other, the way you looked at each other… it reminds me of how you used to tell me that mother and father looked at each other. I wish that I could have gotten to know mother."

I smiled too, and leaned on elbow, laying beside my brother. "You're a lot like her. She loved animals too, and she used to take care of many of the ones we had in the demon slayer village. And she looked like you too. Do you want me to send…"

"No." His answer was sharp, startling me, and he let out a mournful sound, closing his eyes. "I don't want to see her. Not yet. Not until after… If I see her, I'm going to want to hold her, and I'm going to want to kiss her, and tell her that everything will be okay. I don't want to do that. Not yet. I don't want her to see me like this. Please, send Miroku in. I want to know how to cleanse myself. Then I will see my wife. Sango… all the things I was doing… I promised myself that I would never do them again. I promised myself I would never kill again, and I didn't, not until the wolf demons came and attacked the village. I… need to come to terms with that before I see my wife."

I was proud of my brother for becoming so mature. Standing up, I told him that I would gladly send Miroku in, but that he should think about this: he may have taken lives, but he did so to defend the lives of his friends and family. I went in there to see my brother, but when I had left, I had given him much more to think about.

As I promised, I sent Miroku in. Seeing that all the students were doing working steadily, I went with some of the village men and made arrows with them, until Shippo arrived. We found a quiet spot on the ramparts, and spoke in private. Soon, Kohaku's wife and Miroku came up and joined us.

I looked up at him, hoping for some good news. "How is my brother?"

"He's healing. I replaced the wrappings on his legs, and gave him some of Lady Kaede's medicine to drink. He's fast asleep right now, and he's no longer in any pain. Tonight I will have to sew the wound closed." His face was white as he spoke.

Miroku was obviously worried, but as Kohaku's wife was there, I didn't press the matter. I didn't want to cause her any more worry than she was already in. Miroku swallowed. "His leg was cut up quite badly. It looks as though one of the wolves got it; the regular ones, not the demons. There's some muscle damage, but that's not the problem. The problem is that some of the diseases got into the wound, prohibiting it from healing properly. But… I will take care of it. He'll be up and about in a day or two, even though he'll be walking with a limp for some time."

Shippo then repeated the story about Ayame, making my sister-in-law's eyes grow wide.

"Oh, my poor little baby…"

I patted her shoulder. "Don't worry. We'll take care of the demons and get your little girl back." I was quiet, thinking. Kohaku hadn't mentioned the name of his daughter. I looked at his wife, and she blushed and lowered her head, ever the polite young lady.

"We named her Kissaki." She lifted her head slightly to see my reaction. Though she seemed polite and submissive, taking a quiet back seat to her elders and males, she was, deep down, anything but. Her name was Sakura, and she was a fiery girl who often spoke her mind when she wasn't supposed to, and she was often right. She was a perfect balance to Kohaku, allowing both of them to have their own spheres of control in their relationship and depend on each other's strengths to counteract the weaknesses of the other. When Kohaku was quiet, Sakura was loud; when Kohaku felt weak, Sakura took up the sword.

I loved her.

I smiled broadly at the name, and felt myself give a bit of a blush. I turned away from her and Miroku and Shippo, and stared out at the ground. "So, you named her after our mother…"

I saw her nod from the corner of my vision. "I actually thought we were going to name her after you. Kohaku talks about you all the time. Every spring time, Kissaki asks if you're going to come and visit us again. He's told her so many stories about you, that she's started bragging about the woman who could single handedly take down demons as if you were a goddess."

She dried a tear running down her face. I could understand her pain, and reached out to take her hand for her. At the same time, Shippo crawled from Miroku's lap into hers, and after giving my hand a tight squeeze, she wrapped her arms around Shippo, and held him tightly. Children were often the best therapy, especially ones as cute as Shippo.

Sakura was beautiful. Even when she cried, her polished skin didn't lose its color, and her long black hair could wave in the breeze without getting any tangles. Her hands were soft and delicate, and she took great care in making herself appear feminine, yet from the way she walked and moved it was easy for me to see that she was strong, and that she was aware of her own body in a way that only somebody who has been trained could know. She knew some self-defense, I would bet my life on it.

As she seemed to have calmed down with Shippo, I slipped my hand into Miroku's, and we wandered away from her. I looked up at him with a determined face, my eyebrows pointed, and my lips in a tight line. "We need to work with the village people and make up a shift rotation for the night watch," I told him, but he could see through it.

He leaned his staff against the wall, and he touched my face lightly. "Are you okay?"

"Just worried," I replied with a shrug. I was very worried. I worried about Kohaku, and about my students, about my niece out there, and about the child growing in my stomach. I let out a sound of pain and leaned my head against Miroku's chest, my whole body aching from staying up so late. I raised his hand wrapped around mine to kiss his knuckles gently, and I felt his body loosen. I wasn't the only one tense with apprehension. "I wish that Inuyasha and Kagome were here with us. This reminds me of one of the old problems we would have, when it would take all six of us to figure it all out."

Miroku nodded, understanding. "I kind of wish they were here too. Watching Inuyasha be sat, or watching Inuyasha try and hurt Shippo certainly did make the situations feel lighter. We were a good team."

"_We're_ a good team, Miroku. We helped make situations better. You'd have no idea how many times Kagome and I used to almost drown ourselves laughing as we remembered how I would slap you when you groped me or asked me to bear your children." He chuckled, and I loved how the sound felt echoing in my body as we held each other. "I wish you didn't have to go and stitch up my brother, but I know that you have to. Isn't that horrible of me? I wish you didn't have to help my _family_ because I want to share a bed roll with my husband tonight."

He kissed my cheek and let me go. "It's a bit normal. You're worried. There's nothing like being touched to make you feel not just that everything is normal, but also that everything will be okay. It's not that you want sex, Sango. It's that you want sex to use as reassurance." He kissed me again, and then he left to go and check out my brother's wounds.

I felt so lonely.

But then, I pulled myself up together, and began diving back into my work again. Keeping my hands busy made the time fly by, and by the time my duty on night shift was over, I was ready to collapse into bed. Miroku woke me up when he crawled in beside me, but then he let me cuddle up to his chest, and I knew that everything would be all right.

-

I woke up with Miroku still holding me like that. Slowly, I lifted my head, and found Miroku already awake, an expression of familiar concentration on his face. He was deep in thought, and didn't even notice I was awake yet. Grinning, I leaned down and kissed his cheek before I began to crawl out of bed. Once he realized I was awake, however, Miroku didn't want to let me go. "Kohaku will be just fine."

I peeled off one of his hands from my stomach and toyed with the fingers as I brought the hand up to my mouth. I kissed each of his knuckles in turn, happy. "I knew that he would be. You have an amazing talent for healing. Is there nothing these hands can't do?"

He was quiet, slowly rolling over so that his chin rested on my shoulder, his breath disturbing my hair slightly. He didn't respond at all. I think that after knowing Miroku more than a decade, that he had finally used up all of his poetic phrases that made me melt against him and instantly long to be touched by him. The hand I toyed with tightened around my hand, and I gently began sucking on his fingers. His other hand pulled my hair off my shoulder, and attacked my neck with firm kisses.

Making a pleased sound, I threw my leg over his and rubbed it over his, leaning back my neck to give Miroku more room. I loved how he could become so passionate out of the blue. His tongue licked my neck up to the collar bone, where he bit me playfully and kissed me again, trying to make my way to his mouth. However, just as playful, I avoided his kisses, and Miroku did not give up. Our hands left each other, exploring each other's bodies. I felt his hands run over my buttocks, coming up to my front to slip under my shirt and rub my breasts. I let out a little groan, his touch sending little shocks through my body.

Growling, Miroku suddenly shifted and pinned me under him. I giggled as he pushed my shirt up, his mouth replacing his talented fingers, and the sound soon turned into one of the sweet moans Miroku loves to hear. Once both breasts had been touched in such a way, my breath rapid from the passion of his touch, I was shifting under him, trying to find something comfortable from the arousal I felt between my legs. "Miroku…"

I hated how we had to be so quick with each other. I wanted to be like what we were before, when we spent time just kissing and touching, to the brief times when we would have hours together, so that we could take our time and have earth-shattering sex, be able to lightly nap and recover, only to wake each other up with kisses and start all over again. I wanted to be able to do that again, but at this point, it had been so long since I had been touched by Miroku….

He allowed me to sit up, and unpeeled my shirt for me, throwing it across the room. After kissing me again, he slowly began undoing the pants. They came off inch by inch, Miroku's soft lips kissing the skin as it was revealed. I laughed at the sensation, in between pleased sounds that only encouraged him further. The pants soon joined the shirt on the floor. Miroku crawled over my body, and I couldn't stand it anymore. I was about to open my mouth and threaten him something that nobody needs to have me repeat when there was a knock on the door.

"Sensei? Ayame-san has arrived."

Miroku cursed and loudly said that we'd be out in a minute. He handed me my clothes, and looked down at himself, sighing. Sometimes, I was glad that I didn't have to hide anything like that when I was interrupted.

I looked at him, and at the door, and swore as well. I let out a little growl and pounced Miroku. I wanted him, and there was no way that I was going to lose him.

-

We walked to where Ayame was waiting for us, both of us a little sore. Luckily, we were able to hide the fact that we had once again succeeded in having earth-shattering sex, but I'm afraid that with the way the poor house shook, that the whole village knew why we were late. Thankfully they were too proper to say anything about it.

"We need to do that again," Miroku purred in my ear. I grinned like a fool in love and nodded. The way we had… Miroku and I had never been so aggressive or loud in having sex before, not when other people were around! It actually felt kind of… liberating.

Ayame was sitting quietly, stroking the small fox-demon that sat in her lap when we entered the guest house. She looked up at us, and Ayame, unlike the village, was not ashamed to say something. "You know, if I didn't feel bad about being late myself, I might be angry that you two were late meeting me because you were having sex with each other."

Shippo folded his little arms across his chest and held his chin up haughtily. "I don't see why they need to stay with each other and do that. I mean, it sounds so… ew! Sex! Besides, they do it enough at home anyway! And what's with…."

"Quiet!" Miroku hissed, picking up Shippo and rubbing his head affectionately, but hard enough that he got the picture and shut up. He wincingly smiled at Ayame and nodded his head. "We apologize for being late, but we did want to spend some time together. It's getting more and more difficult for us to find time together."

"That's just because you're getting older, becoming adults. Adults never have as much time as they want to do things like that because they have much more arduous jobs. like looking after younger children. I know, because I am the same way. I have two kits with… my pack-mate."

Shippo's green eyes grew wide. He liked younger children. "Did you bring them with you? Where are they? Can I play with them?"

She shook her head, her red hair contrasting her white shawl like blood on snow, and the leaves of the flower she still wore threatened to fall off. "Child-rearing is something we wolf demons excel at, Shippo. My pack is taking care of my children. We watch each other's children, letting them learn and grow together. But when all this is over, I will introduce you to my pups."

Ayame looked suddenly sad, and she stared down at her interlocked fingers. "They look so much like me. I'm glad. If they looked like him… I had always wanted them to look like _him_…" She laughed painfully. "I'm pathetic, aren't I? I can't even give up my childhood fantasy, even though… he's _dead_."

Miroku placed a soothing hand on her shoulder, and gave her the tiniest of smiles. "If my childhood dreams had lasted as many decades as yours, I would also have trouble giving them up."

"You're right, of course. Anyway, we'll have plenty of time to discuss our lives after we deal with this situation. I want those humans out of there as much as you two do. But, my problem is that I'm a member of that pack, and a female. If I was a male wolf, I could challenge Shoryu for dominance, and as long as I won, I could free the humans. But no female wolf could rule the pack like an alpha does. However, if a lone wolf was to come in and challenge Shoryu…."

I frowned. I liked the idea, but it was so chancy! What if we couldn't find a lone wolf, or he failed, or he didn't want to give up the humans? No, I preferred the much more direct route. "Can't we just sneak in there and take out just Shoryu ourselves?"

"I don't think that's a very good idea, Sango," Miroku told me gently, squeezing my hand. "If they found out that it was a demon exterminator, they might kill Kissaki, as she is a child of a demon slayer. We can't guarantee the protection of the humans without taking on all the wolves and wolf demons, as they are probably being guarded, and wouldn't listen to people such as ourselves."

"But where are we going to find a lone wolf-demon in time?"

Shippo's little tail shook as he stared up at us. "You're… you're not going to ask _me_ to do it, are you? I mean, I know that I've gotten better at transformations now that I'm older, and thanks to Hachi teaching me, but I don't think I'm a good enough fighter to try and take on an alpha male! But… but if you really want me to, I can try!"

We all smiled at the brave little fox spirit, whom we all loved dearly. "That's all right, Shippo," Ayame said, kissing his head gently. "It's kind of you to offer though. No, I wouldn't want to risk losing you to Shoryu, losing someone as sweet as you. Besides, didn't I tell you yesterday that I would be willing to take on the wolf pack myself? I will too. But what I need is… I guess that you humans would call it muscle."

Miroku was the one who instantly understood what it meant. His eyebrows narrowed as he thought. "You mean you want to go in there and fight your mate, thus becoming the dominant alpha by succession, and you want _us_ to reinforce your win in case people don't want to accept it?"

Her cheeks went a light shade of pink as she blushed and looked away from Miroku and I. "Yes. That's precisely what I mean. All I would need to do is tell them to move away. If they listened to me, then there wouldn't be any problem; we'll find a land with food, and the humans will be safe. If they don't listen, then you can go ahead and kill them all. They're putting our very existence in danger. The smart ones will leave, and those are the ones that we need the genes from right now, the ones that know to end a fight when the time is right. But, if they decide not to leave, they will turn on me, someone stronger than me will become the alpha, and my pups…"

She braced her shoulders and faced us again, her eyes filled with a shallow horror that really went much deeper. "I _can_ take care of this on my own. I have to. I'm an adult now. But… you two don't have any children right now, except for Shippo. Please, take my pups for me. Watch over them for me, and if anything happens to me, please teach them to become like this little one here. You two are doing a spectacular job of raising him, and my children could learn to grow up and become both strong and compassionate… _please_."

We looked at each other. Three children, with one more on the way? But if this turned out to be a miscarriage again, there would be two more children to ease over the pain. Miroku and I would have enough children to become a village on our own, which, for a long time, I know Miroku had dreamed about having. Add on the students we had, and that might actually be enough children for both of us to be spread thin. How could we say no when she flattered us so? Ayame too had learned the secrets of stroking one's ego.

I was about to answer when we heard a familiar voice in the distance.

"Damnit! Sometimes I wish you still had your necklace on, you bastard puppy! I told you not to take a left, but no, you decided to go right, right into that bramble bush! Look at me! You may have armor coating to protect that pea-sized brain of yours, Inuyasha, but _I_ don't! I'm scratched all over!"

"All over, hm? Can you take off all your clothes and prove it to me, because I'd really like to know how you can get scratches from a bush on your…"

"Inuyasha!"

Shippo sighed as we heard the resounding snap from Inuyasha's head meeting with Kagome's fist. He touched his small hand to his forehead, as dramatic as Miroku could be. His large green eyes looked up at my husband with trickery. "Inuyasha sounds about as perverted as _you_, Miroku."

Miroku merely grinned and flicked Shippo's ear lightly. "I admit that I may have helped Inuyasha with one or two things when he and Kagome were trying to get together, and that some of me may have rubbed off on him." He proudly shone his nails on his monk robes, and inspected them afterwards. I rolled my eyes as he pleasantly continued, "I'm sure that nine times out of ten if you asked Kagome whether or not she appreciates the secrets I showed him, she would scream yes."

He chuckled, and I gathered there was some hidden message there. Of course, I was too busy wondering what Inuyasha and Kagome were doing on this side of the well to wonder about Miroku's perversion.

They came into view soon, and seeing us, immediately landed where we were. My students, of course, didn't shoot them as they saw the arrival of such a strong priestess and half-demon as an unexpected boon, and they knew the two were on our side. Inuyasha was still rubbing his head where Kagome had slapped it, and he looked at us sourly, not even noticing Ayame. "What? Don't I get a hello?"

Miroku leaned over, his violet eyes filled with a comforting laughter. "I think that Inuyasha is the one who likes being hit, Sango. Maybe getting smacked around by Kagome reminds him that if she ever used her powers on him, he would be deceased several ways before his body hit the ground." Despite myself, I giggled, and Inuyasha glared at me, his puppy ears able to pick up on it all.

Before Inuyasha could respond, Kagome slipped off his back, dumped her large yellow bag on the floor, and ran around to distribute hugs and kisses to everybody. When she reached me, she looked down at my belly briefly, and then told me we would discuss it later. She continued around, until she got to Ayame. She hugged Ayame, and then as she was pulling away, she realized who it was she was greeting.

"Ayame-chan!" Her features pulled into a smile so bright I was almost jealous that I didn't get to see it whenever she came to this time. She hugged Ayame again, and I reflected on the way the red-headed demoness slowly wrapped her arms back around Kagome and buried her head on Kagome's shoulder. This was the first time, as far as I knew, that they had seen each other since Kouga had died in the final battle with Naraku.

I suppose that they had something I could never understand. No, something that I _know_ I could never understand. Ayame loved the man that loved Kagome, and yet she was still respectful and courteous to all of us, fully aware that she couldn't make Kouga stop loving Kagome. Kagome had loved Kouga as a friend, and anyone who said that she didn't have an affect for the better on Kouga could eat my hiraikotsu.

When Ayame lifted her head and broke away from Kagome, there were tears in her blue eyes. "Hello Kagome-chan. How are you?"

"I'm good. I'm very good. Inuyasha and I have gotten married since I last saw you. I…" She slowed, and began to choose her words more carefully. She didn't want to make it sound like she was bragging about having a husband and child with the man that she loves. "It's been difficult, Ayame-chan, between going back and forth between both times, but I enjoy it as well. How have you been? How is your tribe doing? They're not caught up in the trouble that the villagers was telling us about, are they?" Her face grew worried, but Ayame forced herself to smile.

"Sadly, they probably are the trouble that they told you about." We quickly filled them in on what had been happening, and our ideas about stopping the wolves. Towards the end of our explanation, Ayame's smile was radiant… and it was pointed directly at Inuyasha. "But now we don't have to worry about any of that," she all but purred as she stood up and moved towards him.

Kagome, who had always been the object of Ayame's great love's affection, suddenly found the positions reversed. As Ayame laid her slender hands on Inuyasha's chest, pressing her still young and supple body against his, she had to respect Ayame all the more for always being polite to her despite the love triangle they had going on, though at that moment she wanted nothing more than to throw Ayame off the roof. I could all but hear her teeth grinding together.

"After all, a dog demon is close enough to being a wolf demon, I suppose. And you're a male to boot, so at least that will give you points. You're a superb fighter, and given your looks, at least the women will follow you."

The priestess figured out what Ayame was calmly rambling on about. She felt the brief jealousy die away, and she arched an eyebrow. "I see. You want Inuyasha to fight Shoryu for you." Ayame turned away from Inuyasha and quickly nodded. Kagome looked up at Inuyasha, and shrugged. "Well, it is up to Inuyasha whether or not he wants to fight for you, but when he becomes leader of the pact, how can he stop being leader of the pack?"

"Why not allow Ayame to choose someone else, and then they can fake a fight? Inuyasha can pretend to be frightened off," Miroku suggested, much to Inuyasha's annoyance. He didn't want the name that normally struck such awe, horror, and inspiration in other demons for being the slayer of Naraku to be ruined by "running off in fright".

Inuyasha was about to tell Ayame that no force in hell could make him ever try and become the leader of some "stinking wolf pack" when he looked at Kagome. There was such longing in her eyes for him to pick up the sword and be the hero again, such hope that he would do the right thing and save innocent human beings, that Inuyasha could only sigh and tell Ayame that he would be glad to help in anyway. Kagome's blue eyes lit up with her smile, but Inuyasha was almost more pleased to see Shippo stare up at him with his wide green eyes as if he really were a brave hero from legend.

He could only, however, stand it for about twenty seconds, and then his bottom lip curled into a sulk and he shoved his hands into the folds of his gi. "Stop looking at me like that, will ya? It's not like I agreed to help because of any of you! I just…."

"Come off it, Inuyasha!" Kagome snapped, her hands firmly on her hips. "We've known you for too long now! That tough guy act just won't cut it anymore!"

"Trouble in paradise," muttered Shippo.

"…want to save the women and children," Inuyasha finished. Both Kagome and Shippo looked a little guilty, but he kissed Kagome's cheek and she began to look like herself again.

Miroku grinned at me. "For a moment there, I was having deja-vu."

I smiled back at him, and rested my head on his shoulder. "You would be having a very painful deja-vu with your hand where it is if I hadn't started to like it so much," I sighed, feeling his hand rubbing the curve of my butt. The blush Miroku suddenly developed was charming, and I knew that his innocent grope was nothing but a normal reaction to Inuyasha and Kagome fighting, as years ago I would have slapped him and _our_ fight would have made Kagome and Inuyasha forget about theirs.

Kagome grinned wildly, her blue eyes shimmering with an eagerness I had never expected to see in her. She threw her hand into the circle of our bodies. "All right, then! One for all and all for one! Inuyasha and Ayame will take control of the pack, and our reunited group will make everything right again! Right guys?"

In a flash we had caught her enthusiasm and we threw our hands in on top of hers. Looking around the circle, we knew that Shoryu was going to have his hands filled with trouble with all of us reunited again.


	9. Feudal Sparring

AN: Well… I am trying to get home for Christmas. Why did we have to get a storm two days before Christmas? Anyway, I'm updating two chapters. They'll have to tide everyone over until the festivities are done around January the third. Hopefully I'll be able to post around then. Drive safely, everyone, and count your blessings.

Notes:

Yes, I am pure evil.

Yes, I am gaving you a cliffhanger.

Yes, if you want to flame me for that… bring it on. It'll make my day. I enjoy a fight. I would have loved to give you guys some closure, but that's not how the cards laid out this time. I will post as soon as I can to appease you all. ::smiles::

The new character was Ayame. I had never written Ayame before, so hopefully she's at least close to how she's presented in the anime.

Yes, I am afraid of needles, so if you have more holes than me (as I have none) you have no idea how much respect I have for you. But I'm really doing this so that my boyfriend will get his ear re-pierced (he let it grew in) because thanks to Miroku… I have an uncontrollable desire to see him with an earring.

I love Kohaku's wife and I wish I had given her a bigger part.

I love you all.

I am in a really, really mushy mood right now.

Love,

The PoF

**Enjoy!!**

Chapter Nine: 

Feudal Sparring

The next day dawned bright and sunny, with a few birds daring to raise their voices against the morning's light and rival its beauty.

I was unaware of it all as I stumbled out of bed and make my way straight to the closest place where I could retch as I once again succumbed to morning sickness.

My morning started off wonderfully; and, as Miroku had somehow slept through me stumbling out of bed, my mood was made worse. I know that we all needed a good rest before we set out with Ayame to go and try and take over a wolf pack, but couldn't he at least have woken up long enough to say something, or _do_ something? Normally he was right there with a bit of water for afterwards, or rubbing my back as I went into dry heaves, but this morning he didn't even roll over.

I know that I was making something out of nothing, but I didn't care. I almost felt like I was looking for a fight, or something that would make my shaking heart calm down. Shippo was right. I was having mood swings.

Rather than slip into bed, I went to the mess hall my students and I had set up, and I fixed myself a bit of luke warm water with a few herbs in it to ease my stomach and muscles, and hopefully my mind as well. It tasted bitter and kind of sour, and for once I found I liked the taste. At least whatever power had decided to make women feel unattractive and bloated to men while they suffered from cramps and nausea was also kind enough to give us increased sex drives and the ability to like whatever we ate while we were pregnant.

I sipped my water, and was starting another glass when Kagome arrived. She was still brimming with energy from last night, but when she saw we were alone, she put on a serious face, hiding the energy for later. (Probably for cheering on Inuyasha in the fight against Shoryu.) She sat on the same bench as I, and she began to tie her long hair into a braid so it wouldn't get tangled. "So? How are you holding up?"

"My stomach hurts," I grumbled. Kagome stared at me, wondering if I was just being blunt, or avoiding something. Really, I was doing both. Sighing, I touched my stomach gently. "I just… I worry. Every time I get so much as a pang down there, I wonder if my body is doing something I don't want it to, and I worry more. But I tell myself I have to be hopeful that this time, everything will be all right, and I feel a little better that my body is listening to me, but I can never stop wondering how many times I'll have to got through this; how many times Miroku and I will sit up late hoping and praying that we'll finally have a child together, and then have to pick each other up and fix each other when it doesn't work. I know I have to be hopeful, be decisive, but it's just so hard… I just…"

I felt my face scrunch as I stared at my stomach harder, wishing that I could hold my child in my arms, because that way I would be able to protect it more, I would be more in control of what was happening to my child. It was horrid, monstrous really, that the one thing I couldn't protect my child from, the one thing that wanted it injury, was _myself_.

Tears ran down my face, and I couldn't continue. Kagome's arms embraced me,. And I buried my head in her braid. My shoulders shook as I sobbed into her, the contact of a maternal hand stroking my back and a female voice telling me that everything would be okay the therapy I had needed for so long.

"It's not fair! Miroku-sama always wanted a child so much and I can't give him one! You and Inuyasha have a baby, and Kohaku and Sakura have a baby, so why can't I give him the family we both wanted? It's not fair, Kagome!" I was crying, near hysterics, and Kagome just held me. Slowly, I lifted my head and dried my tears on my sleeve, but my cheeks were soon wet again with fierce tears. I shook my head, and sat properly, but Kagome wouldn't let my go, and she placed my head on her shoulder, letting the weight off my shoulders for a bit. I toyed with my cup.

"I don't mean it, but sometimes," I said quietly, barely caring or understanding why I was letting out all the deep feelings in my life, even though it was to my best friend, Kagome. "Sometimes, I wonder if I should tell Miroku to go away, tell him to go find someone else. He married me thinking that I could give him a family, and I can't, so he should just go and find somebody who can give him exactly what he wants."

"Don't you dare even think like that!" Kagome snapped. "Miroku married you because he loved you and he wanted to be with you! Maybe he dreamed of a family, and a child, but he married you for _you_, _not_ because he wanted children! If kids were the only thing on his mind, do you think he would have waited so long with for you to want to have one? I know for a fact that Miroku loved being able to just be with you, because he always used to brag to Inuyasha, and I know for a fact that he married you because he loves you because that's why I married Inuyasha."

Her voice softened, and she let me up again, so that I could look straight at her. "People marry and stay married for as long as you two have and will out of love, not out of desire. I know this personally, because when I married Inuyasha, I married him because I loved him. If we had a family together, that was a dream come true and a blessing I could barely imagine some days. I know that you can have a half-demon, but can you have a quarter demon? I didn't know if we were… genetically compatible, and when we did have a child together, it was one of the happiest days of my life, and it will be one of yours too, when you have this child. Because I know that you and Miroku are strong, and will have one together one day."

Kagome's speech had strengthened my hope slightly, and I managed a weak smile, though I was still crying. Kagome beamed back at me proudly, and clapped my back gently. "Now, what do you want for breakfast? I'll make you what ever you want!"

I looked up at her hopefully. "Chocolate?"

We settled on eggs instead, and strips of smoked meat. The hearty meal of any stationed slayer. Miroku and Inuyasha woke up and joined us as my students began to stir, and breath was breathed into the camp. Shippo staggered in with Kirara, and ignored food to curl up on Inuyasha's lap and lay his head on Kagome's knee so she could stroke his hair. It was difficult to know that in an hour's time we would be walking straight into another battle scenario, as if we could never stop fighting, but it was oddly comforting to slip back into our old rolls, if only for a moment. Naive little Shippo; Inuyasha, the reluctant hero; the maternal and peaceful Kagome; stoic Sango and Miroku the jokester.

Kari and Yugo lead Ayame into the mess hall tent that buzzed with gossip when she arrived. Folding her hands against her white fur skirt, she tried to smile. "I sent my pups away so they wouldn't be hurt, as well as anyone loyal to me in case this plan goes awry. Are you all ready?"

Our friendly nature with each other died away as the six of us that had been joined by Naraku and his cruel plans stood up. Inuyasha spoke for us, his new self showing; if Kagome was the mother of our group, then sometime along the way, Inuyash had become the patriarch. He spoke for us and watched out for us so that Miroku and I, could enjoy the smell of the flowers and the fresh spring wind.

"We just need to grab our weapons."

Everyone went off on their own way. Miroku took my hand as we went to our small hut. Closing the door behind us, nervousness choked my throat. He was so serious! _I _was supposed to be the serious one! Miroku pulled me to him suddenly, my body all but being crushed between his arms and his chest. Rather than fight, though I was nervous and surprised, I nestled my face into his dark robes, gathering the warmth from his skin and feeling my senses washed away by his presence.

How could one person make me feel so much just by holding me? Relaxed, safe, desired, special…

"I want you to stay here."

My comfort vanished and I shoved him away from me. Miroku's grey eyes were dark, and his expressive face was filled with painful surprise that I had pushed him away so hard or so quickly. He repeated what he had said, his voice softer, his face adding to the painfully apparent sense of anxiety. I looked away from him, unable to bear the sight of his frown, or the way he looked at me as if I needed to be protected. "I heard you the first time!"

Miroku was silent, and after a long time I heard his padded feet on the floor as he tried to come closer to me, and I felt his callused fingertips on my neck before I moved away again. Our room only had so much space though, and the second time he reached out to me, saying my name soothingly, I didn't move away.

Rather than draw me close again, he turned me around so that he could see me, and his grey eyes widened when he saw that I was stubbornly crying, my bottom lip held tightly between my teeth so that I wouldn't make a sound. His shoulders sagged, and he let out a tiny sigh that might have sounded exasperated if it hadn't been so quiet, if I hadn't known him for so long that I knew it was directed at himself for making me cry. I looked up at him, my dark hair falling away from a tight face.

"It's because… because…" I couldn't say it, but Miroku knew what I was referring to when he looked down and saw that my hands were clasped over my stomach.

Slowly, very slowly, his muscles in his neck stiffened as if he expected a slap across his head, he nodded.

My tears stopped, just for an instant, and just for an instant, I raised my hand as if to strike him. Miroku closed his eyes, expecting the blow from the anger that continued to try and cry its way out, but I slowly lowered my hand, feeling like a monster.

"What kind of person am I when my own _husband_ expects me to strike him when he pisses me off?" I buried my face in my hands, and an instant later they were open again, and I was jabbing my finger into Miroku's chest with each word I yelled at him. "What kind of a person are _you_ when you tell your wife, your wife who was raised to fight, to '_stay home_' all because she may be pregnant? It's only been three fucking months! Look at me, Miroku! I haven't even put on any extra weight yet! I'm not cumbersome, I still have all my dexterity as _you_ should well know form the way you've been holding leaves as socks and whispering sweet nothings in my ear to make my legs…"

"Shh!" He began to look around nervously, and tried to cover my mouth for me, but I would have none of it.

"…open for you, but when it comes to what I was fucking trained to do, you tell me to stay home as if… as if I were some type of child or dog that would get in the way of your plans! What, Miroku? Does my morning sickness turn you off and you're planning and doing Kagome as hard as you do me while Inuyasha is off fighting? Don't give me that aghast face! I know full well that you asked _her_ to bear your children a couple of times before I came along! Or is it… Or is it that you want her to bear your children still!? Oh, that would be fine and dandy! I bet that Inuyasha would believe that a kid with dark eyes and dark hair could be his from when he was in human form if his precious little Kagome told him so!"

The tears splattered on the ground, dripping from my chin. My hands were white-knuckled and held tightly at my sides, too tense to wipe the itchy tears away. I stomped my foot down on the ground. "I was trained to fight, so I'm coming too!"

Oh God, what had I done?

Miroku stared at me as if I were some kind of a monster. At that moment, I felt like I was more of a monster than Naraku. What had I said? God, _what had I said_?!

We just stared at each other, wondering who would speak first, trying to take a grasp on our spinning heads, hoping that the other person wouldn't just walk away. We needed to face this now, while the weight of it was real, and we were both here, and the loudness of our voices from earlier meant no one would come and bother us if we were fighting. If one of us walked away, the matter would be left hanging over our heads, and could come crashing down at any following volatile time.

Somehow, Miroku found the voice to speak first. His was wavering, and he looked more than just nervous now; he looked scared. I really was a horrid person, always scaring my loved ones. "You don't really feel that way… do you?"

My tears had finally stopped. I quickly dried my cheeks, but I refused to look up at him. I felt better now that I had let out energy crying and yelling, but emotionally I felt guilty. So guilty! I shook my head, and my voice was hollow. "No. I don't know what came over me. I just… Miroku… I'm so sorry."

"I'm to blame too," he said gently, his warm palm lifting my face so that I could see him. "I shouldn't have said that the way I did. I want you to stay here, where you're safe, and you could even visit with your brother, because I know that you two miss each other. But I should have made it clear that it is up to you whether or not you go or stay. I can't decide for you either way.

"You've never had anything this bad before, Sango. You've never been this emotional, never been this ill, had these odd cravings… I can sense it Sango. This _is_ the one; there's a beautiful child growing inside of you, and I want… I _have_ to protect it, and that means protecting you, sheltering you even"." He shut his eyes tightly, and I could feel his determination in the tightening muscles of his body.

"I'm tired of waiting, Sango. If we can't have this one, then I don't want to do this again, I don't want to try and have a kid again." His eyes looked into mine, and he slipped a sweet kiss on my forehead, resting his chin there, his warmth comforting me as his words hurt me. "I don't want to watch you beat yourself up again. I want you to smile at me the way you did when we were first together, when we saved your brother, when Inuyasha and Kagome got married… I want you to be happy, to enjoy life."

I remembered the conversation I had had only a little while ago with Kagome, but it strangely seemed a hundred years ago. Oh, I knew that Miroku loved me: he told me, he gazed at me and I could feel it, other people told me so, but sometimes the idea of love, the idea of having my very soul intertwined with someone else's was so big, so grand, I couldn't understand it. I think that if Miroku knew what I was thinking, he would have told me that love was a concept that took lifetimes to fully understand.

"But… I promised you a child. All those years of asking, of teasing, of warming me up to the idea, that now I want one as badly as you do! You can't expect me to go back on my promise to you!"

His arms wrapped around me slowly, and I threw mine around his neck, clinging to him tightly. His voice was muffled from my unbound hair, and the way he was speaking into my clothes. "I wanted a family, Sango. Not a child, I wanted a _family_. You gave me that. Look at me! I'm a teacher, I'm a husband, I'm a foster father, I'm a brother-in-law, I have a wonderful sister-in-law, and I can't _wait_ to meet my niece! Did you even realize that Sango? You're an aunt again! Now you have two whole nieces to dote upon. A child would be wonderful, Sango, but not when trying to have one together causes us both pain, and worry. I'm happy just the way we were, and when you have this kid, I'm going to be just as happy, but only if you're happy too."

"How can I ever be unhappy when I have you?" I sniffled and I kissed his cheek. One taste of him, one sample of that intimate contact, and the next thing I knew his chin was cupped in my hands and I was covering his face in tiny little kisses, telling him that I loved him.

Burying my face into the worn fabric of his black robes, I sniffled. "I'll stay," I mumbled. "I'll stay, Miroku. I have to protect this baby too, because I want this to be the one. I want to give you everything I ever promised you." Slowly, I looked up at him with large brown eyes brimming with unshed tears and I managed to make myself give him a dazzling smile that came straight from the heart. "I want to give you the world."

-

Because I had stayed behind, and because I was the oldest, uninjured Slayer in town, I went out when village scouts said they had seen what appeared to be a wolf demon slinking around just north of the village. I went out to investigate, thinking that it was one of Shoryu's scouts. I was armed to the teeth, katana in my hand, hiraikotsu at my back, and many hidden weapons hidden underneath my armor. I wasn't going to take any chances.

I was _not_ going to lose this child, even if it meant confining myself to the house except in the most dire of circumstances.

Why hadn't I sent out Yugo and Kari? I don't now, not really. I think it's because I liked them in command of the others: it was good practice should they lead something in the field one day (as if we weren't there already) and they were kind to all the other students. We were like an army when we weren't teaching, and if Miroku and I were at the head, then Kari and Yugo were the captains.

Either way, I was glad I hadn't sent them out. The feeling of my weapons on me gave me a feeling of power and of self-confidence that nothing else could. I felt like I could take on the world when I held that katana in my hand. I slunk through the woods like a shadow, never perhaps thinking that I might be a little demonic myself with my speed and silence of movement.

A shadow moved ahead of me, this one a real one. I could pick out the armor and skirts that almost all wolf demons wore. Why was there only one? Usually they traveled in packs… unless it was Shoryu himself, a leader inspecting his lands.

The shadow moved, and I inched a little closer, trying to determine what was happening. The legs came into view, and he stood by the edge of the lake. Looking across the shallow pool dotted with sparse vegetation, I spotted a hare drinking calmly.

"Gotcha, ya little bastard!"

The voice took me by surprise, and I let out a little gasp. That tiny sound alerted both the wolf demon and the rabbit to my presence. The hare leapt away, and the wolf demon turned. I could practically feel the eyes narrow and the nose moved as he tried to smell me, but I was downwind to him, just as he had been to the rabbit.

"Who's there?" Before I could stand up or move, he came barreling into the woods with unnatural speed. Finding me crouching in the bushes, he grabbed my hair and flung me into the nearest tree as hard as he could. I twisted my back so that the hiraikotsu dug into the ground and slowed my movement, but not enough. When I hit the trunk of a cherry tree, showering little pink leaves into my hair, I still saw stars.

The wolf demon snarled viciously, and walked to my side to inspect me further. "If it isn't a Slayer. I thought you guys had all bit the dust. At least you're a larger meal than a rabbit…" His nosed moved, sniffing, and I sat rubbing my head, covered in dirt and sakura blossoms.

"Wait… Sango?"

"Kouga… you bastard, if you didn't just throw me into this fucking tree, I'd ask if you were a ghost. You didn't have to prove to me that you were real quite so roughly, you know."

He looked like he always did, only much thinner, malnourished even. His long brown hair swayed gently from his ponytail, his blue eyes actually starting to look a little happier at seeing a friendly face, his fangs gently touching his bottom lip, and his hands upon his hips, legs spread wide. He always stood as if he owned the whole world, as if nothing could ever shake him. His narrow nose sniffed, smelling me, and he rose an eyebrow.

"Who the fuck knocked _you_ up?"

"You answer my question first. You're supposed to be dead." Kouga was kind enough to offer a hand to help me up, but I stayed on the ground. I didn't feel ready to stand yet, without making myself light heated from surprise. "We saw Naraku… Naraku…"

Rolling his eyes, Kouga sat cross legged on the ground in front of me. I avoided my eyes. I had never realized that wolf demons didn't really _wear_ anything under those fur coverings of theirs… "You can go ahead and say it: Naraku tried to kill me. He nearly succeeded. I was badly injured… let's just say that I was so badly injured that if it had been Inuyasha getting beaten like an insolent puppy than the only thing that you would have been able to find of him his one those disgusting white ears. But I'm tougher than that. After all, I'm the leader of my pack, I have to be strong to begin with to be leader of the pack.

"After that incident, I wandered for a long time, surviving by thieving, hunting anything that was small enough not to be noticed, just things like animals. It meant that my recovery took even longer. I needed to regenerate a lot of the muscles and organs in my body, and that took power I didn't have. Had I been living off of humans, I could have probably recovered faster, but I wasn't strong enough to take on a three year old child.

"One or two years ago now, I found my tribe again, and I hoped to be reintegrated into it, but the pack… it had fallen apart without me. I couldn't bear to be in it, I couldn't bear to be the old wolf that gets fed what's left on the bone because the alpha male knows I would kick his scrawny ass if I ever recovered. I decided to head out on my own again, thinking that I would have a better chance of becoming stronger by myself. So, I became a lone wolf, and when I'm strong enough, I'm going to head back and kick that pup's ass, and make my tribe the feared thing it used to be, take back the lands we lost, and everything will be right again."

Folding his hands behind his head, he layed down, and I stared at him. I was surprised he had told me so much so quickly and easily! Gathering what I was thinking, he closed his eyes and just relaxed to enjoy the sunlight filtering through the trees. "I haven't been around other people for quite some time now. Sorry about unloading on you, I guess. So, what's a pregnant woman doing out hunting a lone wolf like me all by herself? It's not Inuyasha's, is it?"

"No!" Ew! What an idea! "Inuyasha's Ka… that is to say…" I couldn't just blurt out that Kagome and Inuyasha were wedded and had a kid together! I couldn't! So, instead I blushed deeply, and I tried to switch topics tactfully. "What would make you think that I would get together with Inuyasha?"

"I don't know, I just always thought there was a nice sense of irony in that. A Slayer marrying a half-demon, I mean. And you two are both fighters, so you can both understand each other in a way that most people can't, unless they've seen the fighting and bloodshed that you two have, unless you live by the sword the way you two have. And it wasn't as disgusting as the idea of Kagome and Inuyasha doing stuff with each other. Just the fact that she would let him carry her around like that… it's disgusting!"

Yes, now I was glad I hadn't brought up Kagome. Apparently, Kouga still had a thing for her. I didn't know what to do, all I knew was that we could use his help right now. I arched an eyebrow. "Are you strong enough now to try taking on an alpha male?"

"Don't really know. Why do you ask?"

"Well…"

Very quickly I filled in Kouga on what had been happening to Ayame's tribe. At the end of it, he snorted disdainfully. "You humans and that tribe of Ayame's! Your two groups are always meddling." His voice softened slightly. "She must have gotten stronger, and wiser, to become an alpha female at such a young age… Well, I guess it's up to a real man to fix it. Do you know where they've gone?"

"Please. I always like to keep tabs on my husband. He's my other half…" I stood up and began walking away, leaving Kouga scratching his head.

His deep voice was still rumbling out loud in thought as I walked away. "Wait! If you're not with Inuyasha then who'se… the _monk_? _You_ married _that_ lech? I thought you hated him! He's the one who knocked you up? Wait, Sango! Come on! I have to catch up on ten years of shit, here! How the fuck did some pervert like Miroku manage to get someone like you?"

I turned around with a sweet smile to see him barreling through the trees after me. "Kouga-kun, I didn't think a pile of wolf shit like you would actually give a second thought to a girl like me."

He grinned wildly, brushing aside the bangs that now reached his chin. "Let's just say that I have a certain respect for you that was always hindered by the appearance of a certain blue-eyed priestess." He grinned and flicked his bangs out of his eyes. "You're a little bit like a wolf yourself, after all…"

-

"I sense something…" Kagome said, hiding in the trees downwind of the fight scene, where Inuyasha was winning hands down against Shoryu. I wish I could have seen the fight. I wonder how Inuyasha has been practicing all this time at his fighting… and hand-to-hand, none the less! She tried to stand up, but Miroku clasped her hand and pulled her back down.

"If you stand up, they'll be able to see you!"

"But, there are people coming…"

Miroku smiled, and appeased by the familiar sight, Kagome sat back down. He clasped the staff in his hands, careful not to make a sound with the jingling rings. "One of them is Sango. As they don't seem to be hurrying towards us frantically, I assume that whoever is with her is here to help us. Perhaps Shippo mastered a wolf-shape and has come to take on Inuyasha… Although that would leave Shippo in control of a demon wolf tribe."

Kagome stared at Miroku's calm face as he watched Shoryu and Inuyasha fight, and she smiled a little, hiding a giggle. "You know, Lord Miroku, sometimes I forget that you're a monk. I mean, you fight, you're married, you can exorcise and use ofuda, and sometimes I forget that because I think you're just a man. Inuyasha, it's rather hard to forget that he is, with his eyes, and ears, and his little… I mean, _large_ fangs… but with you, sometimes I forget and you're just… Miroku."

"Sometimes, Lady Kagome, the same could easily be said of you. Is there nothing that you cannot do? You fight as well, you subdue Inuyasha's volatile temper, you're a mother and an aunt, and you travel between times…"

"Well, for one, I can't exorcise like you do, and I don't have a clue how to use ofuda, though Grandfather tried to teach me many times…" She paused, and thought for a moment before looking at Miroku closely, and curiously. "Back when we first met you, and you took on Inuyasha and could have beaten him with the kazaana., just how much were you relying on those three Shikon shards in your shoulder?"

"A little. Mostly, I used them for speed."

"No, no. What I mean is… is, well, just how strong are you?" Her blue eyes were wide with curiosity, and she wondered why she had never thought of this before. Just how strong were Miroku's spiritual powers?

He gave her another smile, this one more than a little teasing. "I'm afraid I can't answer that, Kagome. I always try and be humble."

"Like hell you do…" she grumbled as Kouga and I entered the clearing. They stared at us, and Miroku automatically clamped a hand over her mouth from giving us away to the rest of the wolf demons. We quickly filled them in, and by the time we were done, the fight was over, and Inuyasha was trying to goad the other male wolves into fighting him before his place as leader was assured.

Kouga gritted his teeth. "Looks like I'm up…" He was about to rise when he suddenly stopped and grabbed Kagome by her shoulders. His lips pressed against hers, and Miroku and I watched her body tense, then suddenly sagged, as she seemed to begin to enjoy his kiss. Kouga stopped and let her go, before he stood up and marched towards the rest of the demons.

"I challenge you, shit-face."

Inuyasha's face was bright with surprise, but when he heard the insult, he merely cracked his knuckles and gave one of his relaxed grins. "Well, well, well, Kouga. I guess you had more powers of regeneration that I had assumed, huh? You sure you wanna take me on, stick-boy? I've gotten stronger since the last time we duked it out!"

Kouga shrugged. "Well, at least you've matured. Looks like Kagome rubbed off on you. I would have thought that if you knew another man had just kissed your wife, you'd try and remove his head from his shoulders." He watched Inuyasha freeze, and he gave himself a pat on the back. Kouga wanted a real fight to test his new body, and he was confident that he could take Inuyasha. "You know, since you're married to her, and for about half a second there, you were pack leader, it means that if I win this fight, I could drive you out and mate with her, don't you?"

Inuyasha went into a frenzy, and in the bushes, the three of us froze. We looked at each other, and even Kagome had stopped with her glazed-over-in-fantasy look and was watching us. She gulped. "He's just teasing Inuyasha, right?"

I actually wasn't sure. I tried to look serious. "Ah… yea…."

In the crowd of wolf demons, Ayame looked worried, and shocked. She could barely stand anymore, and after her legs began to hurt from their shaking, she didn't care if she looked weak. She fell to her knees in the front of the crowd, staring at the man whom she had thought was dead. Why hadn't she gone and looked for him? Why hadn't she… she should have…

Inuyasha threw a punch that Kouga couldn't dodge, and the smaller demon went flying into the rock face the same way that I had flown into a tree not to long ago. His body slammed against it and fell to the ground. With a burst of his old speed, he flew at Inuyasha and butted him in the sternum, knocking the wind from our silver-haired companion. Inuyasha, coughing, wrapped his arms around Kouga and began to grapple with him. Kouga proved to be the more nimble as he flexed himself, twisting sinewy muscles and escaping Inuyasha's grasp to come up behind him in a choking hold. Still out of breath, Inuyasha found himself in a bit of trouble.

Unable to hold herself, her old habits coming back to her, Kagome bolted up before either of us could stop her. "Come on, Inuyasha! Give him one of the old one-two!"

Energized by her presence and her cheering, Inuyasha inhaled as much air as he could, the world already starting to spin before he drove the heel of his foot into Kouga's, his foot then rising to kick Kouga's shin. His elbow drove into Kouga's ribs, and as he turned to deliver an uppercut to Kouga's chin, Kouga's other hand whipped around and balled him flat across the cheek, sending him straight into the dirt.

Inuyasha was about to jump up and continue the fight, but he suddenly remembered that this wasn't for Kagome or something else equally as important, this was for control of a wolf pack he didn't even know! Inuyasha grumbled. He wished we could have come up with a better plan than one that involved him losing a fight.

Kouga marched over to his fallen form, and he grimaced. He kicked Inuyasha's ribs, pissed that he couldn't have gotten a real fight against our warrior friend. Turning to the watching crowd of wolf demons, he spread his arms wide. "Does anyone else want to fight me?!"

The wolves were all silent, the males slinking into the background. When Kouga saw no one else was going to challenge him, he puffed out his chest, his voice loudening. "Fine, then. My first order of business is to strip the records of any leadership of Inuyasha, there! Let the records show that no dog-demon ever ruled _this_ tribe, not even for a second! Next, an alpha female must be selected. Have we any women who want to fight for the alpha?"

A few women looked around, gauging each other and then eying Kouga, trying to decide whether or not fighting for the chance to be the strange wolf demon's mate would be worth a broken nose or two. Kouga's eyes roamed to Kagome, and for a second it looked as though he were going to leap at her, to go after her and take her as his mate whether or not she was willing to fight for it.

He turned away, and he walked to the pretty woman sitting in the dirt still, her whole body shaking as she tried to figure out of this was a dream or not. He knelt by her side, and offered her a hand up. "Ayame? Did you want to try and resume your position as alpha?"

Shoryu, with his broken lip and black eye, picked himself up. Unlike Inuyasha, who went straight to Kagome when he had risen from the dusty ground, Shoryu could only hobble forward and reach out a hand feebly for his wife and for Kouga. But, nonetheless, his eyes burned with anger. "You can't do that, stranger! She's _my_ mate!"

Kouga snarled over his shoulder, twice as ferocious as Shoryu could ever be. "My name is _Kouga_, ass-face, and I think the lady can decide this for herself! Besides, if you want to get into technicalities, I had a claim on her long before you did, back when she was no more than a pup herself! So why the fuck don't you sit own and listen to your elders, ya fucking windbag?!"

He looked back to Ayame, and she was surprised to see a bit of color on his cheeks. "What do you say, Ayame? It took me long enough, but I'm back, and I'm here, wanting to be with you."

Taking his hand, Ayame stood up. Her eyes seemed to be level with his, even though she was shorter than him. "How do I know you aren't just doing this because the one you really want has already been taken? I saw you eyeing her…"

"It's a marriage of state. I need a family, you need someone to control your clan, and they need someone who can deal with the humans living by here so that they don't call in the demon slayers again. I don't love you, Ayame…" She looked crestfallen, and he touched her chin, guiding her face back to his. He leaned down, so that their lips were almost touching. "But that doesn't mean I can't fall in love with you in the future."

Sitting in the bushes, we watched as Kouga kissed Ayame gently. Kagome let out a tine 'aw' sound that made Inuyasha look lonely when his ears pulled down and he looked at her with large, injured eyes. When they stopped, there was no question that Ayame wanted to fight to become alpha, Shoryu was sneaking away, and the women were all happy; they liked Ayame, and were glad that she was going to continue being the voice in their tribe.

Kouga's second act was to release all the prisoners. The women and children came pouring out from the cave of the wolf demons, all of them pale and tired looking. I was standing with Miroku, reassuring the people as they entered into daylight again, when I finally noticed a six-year-old girl was standing by my side and staring up at me with eyes filling with respect.

Her cheeks and nose were dotted with faint freckles, her dark hair had streaks of copper and fiery red, and there was a look of innocence about her. Yet, at the same time, her skin was dirty and her joints were covered in dirty scabs, healing wounds that had not gotten the chance to be washed out, some of the bruises and cuts newer than others. She was a fighter.

I could see my little six-year-old brother staring back at me from those hazel eyes of hers.

Kneeling own, she reached out a chubby hand to touch my cheek lightly, and she broke into a grin, revealing a few missing baby teeth, probably also from fighting. "Sango…" Her face broke into a larger smile, and she loudly turned to the others, waving her hand. "Hey, guys, I told you that my aunt would come and save us!"

"What?"  
"You mean Kohaku-sempai's stories were true?"

"We've got to see this!"

The other children came rushing over, and I all but ignored them and stared at Kissaki. "How did you know I was your aunt, Kissaki?"

"Daddy always told me about the pink armor you wear, and about the man at your side who dresses like a monk, and he always said that you look sad. He said that you always look sad that way he can be happy, because only one of you was ever allowed being sad." Miroku touched my arm, and Kissaki giggled, the other children pushing her closer towards me. "You don't look sad though now, Sango. _Aunt_ Sango."

"Right now… I have a lot to be thankful for, Kissaki."

Miroku leaned over my shoulder, arching an eyebrow. "So… your father told you stories about me too?"

Kissaki frowned up at him, and placed my leg between the two of them. She stuck out a chin defiantly. "Daddy said _you_ were a pervert."


	10. Monk Hood

Chapter Ten:

Monk hood

We stayed in the village of Kohaku, visiting with my niece and our wolf demon friends for nearly a whole month. We sent the children on ahead once the village was back in shape, but Kagome, Inuyasha, Sango and myself remained for conversation and to help the village further. When we went home, it was with a combination of happiness and sadness, and we traveled slowly. We were greeted at the opening of the lands we knew as home by Kaede-chan. Kaede-chan swung in the arms of her parents as we walked home, and she was having the time of her life. Of course, she was missing her friends, and she was working during her school vacation, but she realized that not many children could travel through time, and so she never complained, and took advantage of everything she could.

Really, she was a very giggly child.

Approaching the village, Kagome was the first one who slowed down, and touched her heart gently. Her face was puzzled. "Something," she said slowly, "isn't quite right."

We all stared at the town, and Kaede-chan felt it next. She set her small mouth into a line like her father's, and her hands tightened in her parents'. "There's a sense of sadness and anxiety in the village." She then looked at her mother for some kind of verification, but her mother was too deep in thought. Kaede-chan looked over at her father, and his lips were drawn tightly as well. Copying his expression, she too stared at the village, not knowing why we adults were being so silent. Kaede-chan already knew why the village was sad, but she had not experienced death before and she was not aware that death was the cause of the sadness she felt.

I felt it third. No. I had felt it before Kaede, having age over power, but I was the third one who said something about the feelings from the village we could sense. "I have never felt black clouds such as this before. They are not demonic in nature. It is as if every heart in the village is consumed with worry, as Kaede-chan pointed out."

Sango tightened her hands on her sword handle and tried to dispel all of the worry in her heart, less her presence darken the clouds even further. "Then let's go and left that worry. With all of us there, I'm sure that nobody will have anything to worry about." With Shippo riding on her shoulder, who was eager to get home and see his slayer friends, Sango took a step forward.

Letting go of his daughter's hand, Inuyasha hurried down after her and stopped her with a hand on her free shoulder. "Let me go first, Sango." Inuyasha didn't even pause for her response as he drew his sword and started down before her.

She was going to fight. I could feel it, see it in the way her body tensed and Shippo looked concerned, his tiny fingers winding into her hair as he stroked her head, telling her that Inuyasha was just being himself: a dick. She relaxed and smiled, and when I took her hand as we walked down to the village, she held it back gently.

Before we had barely entered the village, Kari came running up, relief in her eyes. She skidded to a stop in front of Innuyasha and his drawn sword, and bowed politely to us. When she lifted her head, Yugo not far behind her as he closed in on us, she looked very guilty, even though she had done nothing wrong. "I wish there was an easy way to say this, without being blunt but… I don't think there is. While we were away, Kaede-sama passed on."

We were all stunned. Kaede-sama had always seemed ancient, being so old when we already met her. She had lived over a decade after that, and somewhere along the way, I think we all stopped knowing that she was only as human as the rest of us, and not immortal as we all assumed.

Inuyasha, perhaps, has an easier time dealing with death then we do. He looked harshly at Kari, perfectly blunt and honest as he always is. "If she was still the Priestess of the Shrine, then who is now the Priestess, and what are you doing with her body?"

On Sango's shoulder, still as a statue, Shippo suddenly turned and glared at Inuyasha so harshly the older half-demon was startled into utter silence. Without another word, the fox-demon pushed off Sango's shoulder and landed on all fours, speeding away in a zig-zag pattern between the houses. Sango turned to go after him, but I wouldn't let go of her hand. Shippo obviously needed to be alone, and so we had to let him.

Sensing her friend's concern, Kirara moved from my broad shoulders to Sango's more slender ones, but even a friendly cat-demon to do little from fill the whole we had discovered in our world. Yes, indeed it had seemed like Kaede would always be there…

"There is nobody caring for the shrine. The people have tended to the outside, but nobody dares enter inside it to clean or do any work in case they accidentally anger the spirits and bad luck befalls them. They merely pray outside, promising that they would find the strongest Priestess they could, as they already had one in mind. You, Lady Kagome."

Kagome stared at Kari. She held her daughter in front of her, protecting, her fingers lacing in the fabric of Kaede-chan's shirt. I had never seen anyone look so astonished before. "Me? But… I look after this shrine already... in… well, you know!"

"I do know, and the people here understand, but Kaede-sama has trained no one else, and no one else here as power to become the Priestess, except for three people standing in front of me right now. You, Lady Kagome; your daughter, and Miroku-sama."

I felt the surprise run through Sango's body, but I heard the tiny gasp of surprise coming from Kagome and even Inuyasha. I was slightly hurt. If I didn't wear my robes, if I didn't bring up Buddha now and then or prayed in front of graves, did they all forget that I had been trained to be a monk? It was of my own volition that I had left the shrines, and I don't regret it. But had my life been different, I would have loved to have served the Buddha. I tried to still keep with what I had learned as best I could, but was it truly enough?

I didn't think that such a corrupt man as myself could run a shrine as purely as Kaede did…

"But he's a pervert!" blurted out Inuyasha.

"But she's so young!" blurted out Kagome. We all stared at her, and she looked around at us, confused. "Well, Kaede-chan _is_ young! I'm certainly not going to… oh. I think that Miroku-sama would keep the shrine perfectly well until we can train a replacement."

At least I had one vote of confidence…

Sango said nothing. She squeezed my hand and shifted closer to me, and I knew why she didn't want to speak up. She didn't want to lose me. She didn't want things to change between us. She didn't want me to have to start living closer to the shrine, to have to live in our house with no husband to warm her bed and tell her that everything would be all right when his hand touched her stomach. I raised her hand to my lips and kissed her knuckles gently. She knew as well as I that Kagome made it sound easy. It took years to learn how to run a shrine.

And who knew how long it would be until we found someone suitable!

That night, Kagome and her family went home to the future to make suitable preparations for this new change in their lives. That same night, Sango slept alone in our tent, Shippo still out there alone, and it was the first night in a long list of them that we spent alone.

-

When I woke up, I first set about tidying the temple, but my plans were derailed. I found Shippo sitting in the shrine, staring up at the Buddha. His small face was solemn, his furry tail slowly moving behind him, and his hands rested on his knees. When he heard me enter the room, he turned to look at me, and I found his eyes were bloodshot, bags under them; had he slept at all that night?

Smiling gently, trying my best to be fatherly, I sat down next to him, and gazed at him. I clasped my hands over the tight fabric of my robes. "You know, Shippo, when I had a problem, I always turned to the Buddha, but sometimes, there were such questions in my life that were too difficult to be simply answered. I know that I will see the souls I meet in this life in some other one, providing I am blessed with enough luck, but I wonder why they ever had to be taken from me in the first place. It seems unfair to lose them, doesn't it?"

His tiny body shook, and I gathered that I had been wrong when I thought that death was the only topic on his mind. "If it's unfair to you humans, how do you describe what I'm going to have to go through? How could Kaede-sama have left me? How could she have left _us_? But it's more than that, Miroku! Look at how carelessly Inuyasha treats death! What happens when it's Kagome whose dead, or you, or Sango? I knew it was going to happen, Miroku, but I didn't know what if would feel like until now. I'm going to have to watch all my friends grow old, and die, and then… I'll be all alone, won't I?"

I softened my expression, and reached an arm around his slim shoulders, drawing him to my warm heart. His tiny hands held my robes tightly, and I wondered how we ever could have let him run off on his own, or fight, or how we could ever remember that he would be older than all of us when we were old and grey and he would be scared by some story the older kids had told him. "No. You'll never be alone, Shippo. I don't know how, but I know this in my heart. You will never be alone, Shippo."

"Yes, I was! I was all alone last night! I ran away to Inuyasha's woods, and the well, and I cried and I cried, and I cried, and no one even came to see that I was okay!" He suddenly broke into sobs, his fat tears making my clothes damp. "Why didn't you come and check up on me?"

"Sango and I, we both thought that you wanted to be alone to deal with Kaede's death. I guess that Kagome and Inuyasha thought the same thing. You'll never be alone Shippo, but we can't always be there to hold your hand and tell you everything's alright. You just have to be brave..."

Shippo sat back, drawing his cheeks, and he looked almost serene as he turned back to the statue. His voice was light, and it sounded barely his. It sounded older. "I know. I just have to be strong and brave right? I have to be… _courageous_. I have to grow up, right, Miroku?"

I stared at him a second, and then looked up at the statue of Buddha myself, feeling slightly wiser than _my_ age would allow… though thirty was past middle-aged. "I'll let you in on a little secret, Shippo. Nobody ever grows up to the point where they don't want to be held or told that everything would be all right. Not the bravest, strongest warrior alive will ever be that courageous. When things are at their darkest, everybody needs to be told they're loved, and that things will be well again soon."

Turning back to him, I ruffled my fingers in his hair and left them there. "That's why Sango was mad at me for saying that I would work here. She doesn't want me to, because then I can't be there to tell her that I love her when I wake up, and tell her that she can survive anything when she gets the slightest little cramp because I believe in her. People need to be reminded."

He was silent, and then he was burst, filled with energy. In ten years, the top of his head was still not parallel with my shoulder. "I can do it for you! I can tell Sango all of that stuff until you come back, right Miroku? I mean, this kid is going to be my little brother or sister, and I really want to have a little brother or sister! Even if… even if I grow up faster than they do! I don't want them to protect me the way you and Sango do; I want to protect them, so that they can live for a long time; so that they can live lots! And then _I_ won't have to say goodbye to them until years and years have passed! And the first way I can protect them is by taking care of their mother, right? And making sure nothing happens to them while they are in her tummy, right?"

I laughed out loud, wishing the others could have seen the hope and determination in his eyes. I kissed his forehead. "Exactly, Shippo. I think that's a wonderful idea. Now, Sango should just be getting up, and getting over her sickness. Run and tell her what I always do each morning, will you? And give her a big fat kiss on her cheek for me! I have to start getting this place into shape."

"Yes, sir!" Shippo smartly saluted and scampered off.

Still laughing, I shook my head gently, my hair falling into eyes that were slowly growing strained. But I could still make out Buddha's calm and slightly laughing face stare down at me, as if the man were laughing _with_ me for once, instead of at me, the way I often felt he did when I was in the darkest times of my life. Standing up, I dusted off my robes and bowed respectively. "You certainly do work in mysterious ways, sir," I said to the statue, as if it were an old friend; and often, I think it did feel that way. "You certainly do, but I couldn't have picked a better carrier, or a better message."

-

When Sango woke up that morning, she was struck with a feeling of loneliness that was different than any she had ever felt before. It was not really a _pain_, the loneliness she encountered when she thought her family was all dead, because she knew I was still alive, it was… it was a _longing_. She wanted me back beside her, to make her smile as soon as she woke up, to tell her she still looked beautiful despite the tangles in her hair; she wanted me there because I made her mornings better, her days brighter.

She brought the same light to mine.

Dishes banged in the kitchen, and she grumpily went to investigate, thinking some type of weasel creature had broken into her house. That thought alone doubled her grumpiness. It's a little known fact that while Sango doesn't mind killing demons or hunting (as that preserved her own existence) she hates killing the poor creatures whose worlds interlaced with our own and were guilty of no more than trying to find a warm place to spend the night.

The same women who could single-handedly bring down centipede demons would often spend ten minutes chasing down a spider just to put it in the few plants we have outside our house that she calls a garden.

What she found was Shippo trying to make her breakfast. His little tail was still for once, his tiny body frozen, and then he looked away sheepishly. "Sorry. I didn't mean to wake you. I wanted to everything ready and cleaned up for when you recovered from a nap after… after, well you know." He patted his stomach.

Sango smiled at him and sat down cross legged behind him, so that he could go back to work. She didn't complain about the mess at all, but she was curious as to what had brought on this bout of responsibility and charity. She didn't have long to wait, as Shippo explained.

"I talked to Miroku today. He says that he loves you and that everything will be all right. And I know he's right, and I'm here to help make sure that he's right. Because I realized something today; I realized that I'm going to be a sibling, and that I'll never be alone again because your child will have kids, and they'll have kids, and so I'll always have kids my own age to play with, ones younger than me to protect, and ones older than me to protect me. Right now, this child is younger me, so it's my responsibility as the older brother to protect them and make sure they're okay, and that means that I have to make sure they eat healthily. Which means I have to make sure that you eat healthy, Sango!"

Her smile became immeasurably brighter, and she gave him a giant bear hug, almost smothering the poor boy. Sango was deeply touched, and for once in her life, she didn't mind being "coddled", because coming from Shippo, it felt more like simply being… spoiled, or perhaps special. She kissed his cheek. "You are amazing, Shippo."

Shippo had never had a compliment like that in his whole life, and he kept it sealed close to his heart.

-

It was odd at first, but we quickly became accustomed to this new way of life. Every week, Kagome and I switched taking care of the shrine, and I went back to sharing a bed with my wife, and training my students. It was hard on all of the adults, and on all of our children. Inuyasha was left alone for a week to take care of his daughter and the shrine there, and Sango was left alone to teach.

Luckily, we have very wonderful children. Shippo was never far from Sango, stitched to her side so that he could fetch whatever she needed as her stomach grew larger. Sango was always pale, and no matter how much she ate, her stomach grew wide with a baby and her body grew thinner. From the back, it looked as if she weren't pregnant at all. The older children helped train, and set quiet examples. Sango was beginning to rely on Yugo and Kari more and more, and she was sad to start thinking that before her child was born, she might have to stop being a teacher.

In the future, Kaede-chan was busy helping her father, and when she came to visit, she spoke guardedly of help that they had begun training for the shrine, as if the topic of their helper made her uncomfortable.

It was this way for the rest of Sango's pregnancy. When Sango was nine months pregnant, Kagome, Inuyasha, and cute little Kaede arrived with armfuls of equipment, enough to last Kagome a month. Our blue-eyed friend set her belongings down in the shrine, and dusted off her hands. "No offense, Miroku, but men have a tendency to lose their heads when their wives are pregnant. That's why I'm going to be staying until this baby comes, and so will Inuyasha."

Our half-demon friend looked fierce; it had been years since I saw him look as if he would tear off the head of whomever crossed him. I gulped, and looked back at Kagome. "Pardon me for asking, Priestess," the nickname I had begun to use, as often she called me a Priest… and I jokingly tolerated it. I was a monk, not a priest. "But what exactly is Inuyasha here to do?"

She casually shrugged, and Sango snickered behind her, helping her to get settled. "Inuyasha's here to sit on you so you don't interfere."

At the word 'sit' however, Inuyasha winced, and rubbed the back of his neck, no doubt remembering the way that she used to say that command and send him face-first into the dirt… or stone… or river… Kagome and Sango giggled, easing we men over. It had been a long time since we had heard our women giggle, and when we do, it made us feel younger, even though Sango was not yet even a mother.

As if picking up on my thoughts, my wife touched her swollen belly. She looked a little bit in pain, and then the expression was replaced with a small smile. "I think I need to sit down. Lately, this baby has been kicking around a lot. It feels as if they're trying to do a kata in there."

Shippo was there in a blur of orangey-red fur, taking her hand and helping her sit down. Had he not been a demon, I doubt that he could have supported her weight, but then again, Sango had been losing weight. If it wasn't for Kagome sneaking her back treats from the future, I would have thought that my lovely wife could have wasted away.

"Miroku," she purred, holding Shippo close and playing with his hair (his eyes were closed in happiness, and I swear that he would have started "rumbling" like Inuyasha does occasionally at any second). "Miroku, come feel our baby kick."

Later, Inuyasha teased me about going white at this idea. Pardon me, but I don't like the idea of the baby kicking my wife's insides. Slowly, I came and sat down beside her, Kagome eagerly looking forward to when I was finished. Sango lifted her long shirt so that I could put my flesh against hers. It was still odd seeing Sango's belly button becoming an outtie, as Kagome called in, seeing her flesh expanded with pregnancy. Yet it was a good feeling, because that was _my _child in there, and she had finally been able to bring one to term. Within the month, we would have a child.

I placed my hand on Sango's stomach, and felt only the odd sensation of expanded flesh. Then, suddenly, a foot, a slight kick, and flesh again.

I had felt my little child kick.

Laughter spilled from my mouth, and I placed another hand on her stomach, and Inuyasha pulled Kagome and Shippo away. I was alone with my wife, laughing so hard I was crying. My child kicked again. My baby was moving, my little son or daughter alive and healthy and _moving_ inside my wife!

Taking her chin in my hands, I covered her soft mouth and her cheeks and forehead and dark hair in quick little kisses, kissing even her round belly, telling her how much I loved her. I was finally allowing myself to feel that elation I had felt when I had found out Sango was pregnant. We were finally doing it; we were finally going to have a little baby together.

The elation I had kept in for so long was pouring out now, in droves, in oceans of love, in fucking _torrents_. I couldn't stop from kissing Sango, to telling her I loved her more than anything, how proud I was of her… how happy I was, and even thank you.

It had finally hit me.

In less than a month, I, Miroku, was going to have a son or daughter, born to me by my loving wife, the woman I have loved since I first saw her fight and the color rise to her cheeks.

I was going to be a _father_.

At that moment, safe and happy and holding my lovely Sango, I never thought that one week later, my baby was going to enter this world almost one whole month before they were supposed to.

* * *

To Be Continued 


	11. Daddy

Complete and Unconditional

**AN**: Sorry about the cliffhanger again!

Lily Thorne: Sorry for confusing you, Lily. What I meant is that Sango's is in her ninth month. She is due at the end of it, more or less (you know how things are), rather than her being done her ninth month and being late or anything. I always wanted to do a gingerbread house. I hope you had fun.

NefCanuck: I was once renown and hated for my cliffhangers… Im glad that I can still do one now and then.

Siren: I know you did. I got the same snowstorm. The (expletive deleted) kept me stranded in my university town for one extra night and caused my mother to tell me I was going to miss Christmas, so I should go and meet my neighbors. ::sweatdrops:: I was not a happy panda that night.

Fallen Sakura:…That wasn't the end, silly. to think of it, I don't know what the end will be right now…

To everyone I made want to cry: ::sweatdrops again:: Sorry. That wasn't my intention. I like happy. Happy is good. I just love my cliffhangers.

Chadrific: I couldn't make Kouga dead. He's just so cool! It's because of the tail.

….Um, you know, come to think of something else, this chapter is also a tear jerker. Maybe some of you should have Kleenex handy.

This chapter is based on Kagome's PoV. I wanted someone who had some neutrality to the scene. I mean, if it was from Sango's point of view, then there would be a lot more technical details to contend with, like oh, the fact that's she _giving brith_, and after she falls asleep, I worried that the Miroku-scene would become awkwardly worded. So, I put the perspective from that of someone who gets to see both Sango and Miroku's involvement: Kagome.

Hey, it could have been in Inuyasha's, but then I'd lose the tender moments. ::winks::

Enjoy, everybody!

Chapter Eleven: 

Daddy

Shippo was the one who came running to me, telling me that Sango's water had broken. I reacted instantly, without a second of hesitation. Picking Shippo up and holding him close to my chest, still not noticing at the way he hugged my breasts closely, simply wanting to shelter his little body with the same protectiveness I always had, I shushed him and told him to tell me the story over again. I quickly collected my things.

"We were down in the training field. Sango was telling someone to fix their stance, when she suddenly doubled over. Kari, Yugo and I ran to her side, fearing something was horribly wrong. She said the baby was kicking again, it was nothing, joking with us and saying the baby was turning summersaults in her body. She said she needed to sit down, so we took her hands, and we were guiding her to a rock in some shade, when she suddenly doubled over again, and then… there was this dampness everywhere, coming from between Sango's legs."

I closed my back and tossed it over the shoulder to which Shippo was not clinging. "All right. So where is she now, Shippo? Who's with her?"

"Yugo and Kari are taking her to her house. I was told to come and get you." I wished I didn't have to hold her knapsack still so that I could hug the little fox demon again. He looked so worried! Deep down, I was just as perplexed. This was far too early; something had to be wrong.

"What about Miroku?" I asked with some hesitation.

Shippo shook his head. "He's off teaching tracking with Inuyasha. Someone went to go and get them, but Yugo stopped him. Yugo actually had to hit the boy to get him to understand. He said that it wasn't up to them to go and get Miroku. He said that when I went to go and get Kagome, if _you_ thought it was right, that I should go and find him."

I thought about it a second. Yugo had shown extraordinary wisdom for his young age, and I wished that I could pass on the question of whether or not to summon Miroku to someone else. Of course, this was his wife; he had a right to know. But, on the other hand, men were already susceptible to conniption fits when their wives were going to have a child. What would happen to Miroku when he found out she was not only going into possible contractions, but that she was having them weeks too early?

"Go and get him," I told Shippo finally. "Tell Inuyasha first, and then tell Miroku. Inuysha should be able to sustain Miroku if anything happens. I'll go and see to Sango."

The _kitsune_ scampered off, and I hurried to Sango's house. Upon entering I found the scent of sweat, even to my human senses. Sango was in her bed, Kari by her side wiping sweat from her brow. Sango's hair was already plastered to her head. She looked for too pale, and I wished I had gone to medical school for more than just the study of plants as medicine. For her, I would have undergone the years of school, the toil of examinations, and the stress of school just so that I could have been prepared for this one moment.

Even Kari was beginning to sweat through her robes. She looked up at me, and when I opened my mouth to ask, she told me all the windows were already open. I sat down. Sango's eyes were closed and unaware of me, and I opened my bag, digging through it. I pulled out a bottle of Tylenol. I knew it wouldn't do much to help the pain of childbirth, but it was the best I could offer her. I only hoped that the early contractions didn't mean the child was dead already. If it was a still birth…

I was starting to get nervous. I knew that the baby was still alive, because just yesterday I had been with her giggling and laughing as the baby kicked and turned… And turned! Suddenly, it all made sense. The baby had turned inside of Sango, that was why she was going to pregnancy early; not because her body was trying to reject the baby, but because the child itself felt it was time to leave the safety of the womb!

Feeling myself regaining my confidence, I poured a cup of water, and I reached into the knapsack and pulled out a small package made of shiny material. "Boil some water, Kari-chan. When it's boiling, seep this in it until it turns dark brown to black. Something tells me that I'm going to be needing it."

Kari took it and looked at it with some confusion. "What exactly is it?"

"Caffeine. Lots of caffeine."

"_Hai_, Sensei."

Kari bowed her head slightly and went to do as I asked. I took up her seat beside Sango. I set down the Tylenol and the glass of water, and I wrung out the cloth left in the glass of water. Something about my touch compared to Kari's told her that it was someone different wiping her brow for her, and that it was me. She was trying to say my name, licking her chapped lips, before she had even opened her eyes. I shushed her as I had done to Shippo not too long ago. Lifting her head, I held the water to her lips, telling her take a sip, and then to swallow the pills. Sango took the pain killers without any resistance, and then she placed her head back down against the pillow. She still hadn't opened her eyes.

"Rest now Sango," I purred to her, stroking her wet hair. "Rest now. When the baby decides to come, it will be hard, and it will be long. Rest now while you can."

-

It took hours; it was hours for Sango's contractions to begin to come faster, for her body to prepare itself for the child eager to see the world. She could get no rest, and she faded in and out of grumpy sleep. Each time her eyes closed and her breath regulated, each time it looked as if she might catch a bit sleep, her muscles contracted, and she woke again, rubbing her small, rounded stomach in pain. Then, her sounds muffled as she tried to keep from calling out, her wonderful husband had a panic attack outside the house. Sango and I could hear him demanding Inuyasha let him pass, calling him names that even made my demonic husband blush when he heard them.

Sango managed to take a sip of water with trembling hands. "Can't we let Miroku in, at least until the real work starts? I think it would do him good to see that I am, in fact, alive and well."

"He just saw you an hour ago. He should know that everything is fine." My voice was rather snappy, and I quickly apologized. Just because I was tired, I didn't need to take it out on Sango. However, Sango, caught in a daze, didn't seem to hear the tone of my voice, while Kari did and was looking at me with frightened eyes.

How could I possibly say it? I didn't know how to tell her that it was better Miroku stay outside because it would be easier on him if he never saw the child, because there was very little I knew about childbirth, and the baby probably wasn't going to survive.

But maybe I was wrong about that, maybe seeing her husband was just what Sango needed.

"Tell him he can come in," I told Kari. The young girl opened the door, and Miroku practically leapt into the room. He went straight to Sango, and my blood-sister seemed to smile a little bit as his hand wrapped around hers. She knew who it was without looking at him.

Crossing his legs, he slipped under Sango, supporting her head in his lap, and whispered soothing lies to her, telling her that everything was going to be all right, that he was in the room now and he wasn't going to leave.

Inuyasha lingered in the doorway, wanting to enter but feeling out of place, and he studied me. His golden eyes became worried, and he reached out to pull me close, kissing my limp hair. "How are you holding up?" His marble skin was tighter, paler than normal. He was worried about me.

"I'm scared," I whimpered. I hadn't sounded like that since the last childbirth I had attended; my own. "I don't know what to do. The baby is trying to come out, but Sango's body is reacting so slowly! Her contractions are still ten minutes apart, and she's dilated only…" I indicated with my fingers, the distance between them, and the whispered voice I was using could have slunk between the space with miles in between. "I wish that we were in the future, where a real doctor could have done this…"

Kari touched my shoulder gently. She was still gentle, still calm despite the hot room and the expectancy in the still air. "Kagome-sama, _you_ are our doctor. Please, stop wishing and relying on the things we don't have, and use what we have. You have to know more herb lore than this, you have people at your disposal that know more than this. Can't you or Inuyasha-sama use their experience?"

She was, of course, right. Feeling my self-confidence renewed, I sent Inuyasha out for a few herbs, and with a simple question to many of the friends we had made, and they were only too eager to help their new friends.

-

Two hours later, thanks to a brew that we had made up, Sango's contractions were coming seven minutes faster, and she had grown more. It was only a matter of waiting.

Two hours after that, even Miroku began to look worried, and no matter how many doors or windows we opened in the house, all of us were sweating up a storm. Miroku felt that the heat was coming from Sango herself, perhaps the child inside of her, that they were so eager to come out they were burning her with fire, setting her alive with fire. We had to give him a calming brew to keep from having him get underfoot, and so he ended up pinned against the wall by Sango's form. He whispered encouraging words to Sango and sheltered her body against his chest. Sango once again tried to sleep, but she couldn't. Her contractions were still too far apart, but the baby had moved. It wouldn't be too much longer.

Two hours after that, Sango was dilated enough, and her contractions were coming close enough that we needed her to really begin to work. I made Kari boil some coffee, and sent Inuyasha out for fresh water. He left with his ears back and a growl on his lips, but when he returned I gave him a smile and a quick kiss that would have been a hundred times better if I wasn't so tired.

It seemed as if our men were joining us in the dance of continuing life. I was glad to have their support there with us.

Miroku supporting Sango, myself with my hands waiting to help guide the child, Inuyasha helping to reassure Sango and trying to keep her cold by wiping her brow from sweat, and Kari holding fresh hot water and towels that we needed to clean up with, we all held our breaths and waited for the real trial to begin.

"Alright, Sango," I told her in a reassuring voice. "You need to push."

She pushed, grunting with the effort, her breath coming faster. Her hands tightened so hard against Miroku's that even he began to squirm. Stopping, her chest heaved and she tried to catch her breath before I told her she had to push again. Gathering up her strength again, she pushed again. Her breathing started to even out as best as it could, given the cause of the panting. Sango was a quick learner; her pushes were becoming stronger as she began to understand what she was doing, and she was once again taking control of her body by the reigns and molding it to her liking.

"You're doing fine, Sango. Just keep doing as Kagome says," Miroku whispered in a husky voice, his breath tickling her ears. He was trying to be helpful, but I truly doubt that Miroku could ever talk to Sango without oozing some kind of charm.

Glaring, she whirled on him as best she could. Miroku paled to the color of Inuyasha's hair under Sango's piercing, hawk-like gaze. Her voice was so feral she could have frightened away full-fledged demons.

"How would you know how I'm doing? You're just holding my hand while poor Kagome is doing all the work that Kari, Inuyasha or I aren't! You're the one who had sex with me and helped to put this child inside of me, so why the fuck aren't you down there doing something to help bring this child into the world?! I'm not a baby anymore, Miroku! You can stop holding my hand! And while we're on the subject of childbirth, in the next life, monk, _you're_ the one who's going to be a girl and have the baby, and at least if we're reborn into Kagome's time, _you'll_ at least have the benefit of drugs!!"

Miroku looked as if he had just gotten his head chopped off. If Sango hadn't needed to stop yelling at him to concentrate solely on pushing, I think that Miroku's pride would have shattered at hearing his beloved wife speak to him so harshly.

Inuyasha, my loving and understanding husband, merely smiled and continued to try and keep Sango cooled down. "So, we finally get to see Sango's temper first hand."

"He's right, hon. You're doing fine. Just keep on pushing. I can see the head."

"May I…" Miroku began.

"No you may not! You see that enough as it is! You're not allowed getting in Kagome's way!" Sango screeched at him. Miroku cringed and leaned back against the wall, keeping her body steady. Sango sighed and rolled her eyes, trying to gather her energy as she waited for the next time that she needed to push. "Ah, at least Kirara, Shippo and Yugo had the good sense not to get involved in this."

She closed her eyes. Her head was leaning on Miroku's shoulder, and it looked as if she was waiting for something. When she wasn't presented with that something, Sango smacked him lightly on the head. "Don't I get a kiss for being a good little girl?"

"No." He cringed again when the arm was raised to smack him again. He smiled at her with the charm he carried specifically for Sango. "But you get a kiss for being my brave wife, bearing me a courageous, and not to mention aggressive, little baby." Then he gave her a kiss she eagerly returned, the kind of kiss you wouldn't think that a woman who had had her water broken over ten hours ago could give at all.

Sango was definitely aggressive when she was cornered and in pain… and not to mention scared! When I had born Kaede, I was terrified, and I was in a hospital with people who knew what they were doing. If I was the one trusting myself with delivering a child I had waited so long just to bring to term…

I had known the responsibility of this when I accepted taking over Kaede's responsibilities, but I had never felt the weight of them until now. This baby was in my hands.

"Keep pushing, Sango," I encouraged. She stopped kissing Miroku to keep pushing. Sango never snapped at me; I was her blood-sister, and at that moment, I was the one in charge of the situation. Glancing at Inuyasha, even he looked nervous.

And so it was. In that hot room, I kept encouraging Sango to push, Miroku tried not to get his head bitten off, and Inuyasha kept trying to keep Sango cooled down. We were all hot, sweaty, and tired, but none more than Sango. After ten hours and thirty-two minutes of birthing, on our equivalent of May 9, Sango gave birth to a healthy baby.

Kari was right there with the towels and the water, bathing off the baby and cleaning up the mess. We cut the umbilical cord and tied it off, wrapped the baby in cloths, and handed her over to the proud mother.

At first the baby cried, as if say that it regretted leaving Sango's safe and warm womb. But like all babies, it stopped the moment it saw the mother. Sango managed to smile at the child, wrapped in Miroku's arms, before her eyes closed, and she held her baby tightly against her chest. Miroku, still crying tears of happiness, kept kissing Sango's sweat-soaked hair.

"I'm a father, I'm a father," he kept repeating, in a barely audible voice. Reaching out, he lightly touched the child's nose, and chin, and the tiny fingers on the hands.

The child had ten fingers, ten toes, two eyes… everything was where it should be. But I was worried. I had held that child when it came out covered in blood and warm, and I knew how light it was. Why had the child come early? I looked over at my husband. He knew exactly what I wanted to do, and he shook his head no. I sulked. "Why not?"

"Kagome," he told me gently, taking my chin in his hand. His gold eyes were serious, and I gathered that this was more than just my husband talking to me, this was also a man who had been through more than I could ever imagine. "Kagome, are you actually asking me why you can't take the child through the well? Why you can't go and take it to a hospital and put it in some incubator until it gains a healthy amount of weight?"

"Well…"

Inuyasha gave me a gentle kiss on my nose, and held me tightly, even though all we really wanted was a cold shower. "Trust me, Kagome. There's no remedy on this earth better than being held in the loving arms of a mother. I should know." Rather than let him fall into bittersweet memories of his mother, I grabbed my husband by the shirt and kissed him with all the strength I had left in me.

"Pardon me," Miroku said, as Kari giggled. Inuyasha and I parted enough to look at Miroku from the corner of our eyes. He held his hands over the baby's eyes and was glaring at us like the overprotective father he suddenly was. "I will _not_ have _any_ kind of _that_ behavior in front of my little girl. I will not have her corrupted by you or anyone else."

"Look who's talking," sneered Inuyasha.

I laughed, and smiled at the proud father. "Aw, he already has his father-voice down. Listen, Miroku, I'm going to head back to our hut. When Sango wakes, the first thing she should do his feed her daughter. She's on the tiny side, and she should put on the weight she missed putting on by being born early. Before we go, do you want to know what Sango decided you should call your child if it was a girl?"

Miroku was surprised. He glanced around at all of us, and at the darling angel held by his slumbering wife. "She… you… you discussed that with her?"

Kari patted his shoulder gently, covering a yawn with the other hand. "We all gave her our input. Just because you two didn't want to get emotionally attached to your daughter before she born incase there was… an accident, Sango couldn't help but get attached. She was carrying her around for the past eight or so months, you know. She asked all of us what we thought of names. We all think she picked the right one."

Inuyasha's smile was that of the sweet man that had always lurked under the sculpted mask he wore. "She decided to name her Arashi."

Miroku's jaw dropped open, his dark eyes wide. He kept glancing around at everybody, particularly Arashi. Then his mouth closed, and he had eyes for only the two most important women in his life. "She named her after Mother…"

"She said it was only right after Kohaku naming his daughter after her mother." Kagome leaned over and kissed Miroku's cheek. "Congratulations… Daddy."


	12. First Words

Complete and Unconditional

AN: Ah! I looked to see how many chapters were left in this story… and there's… oh… say, four chapters left. Which tells me that I should finally get around to writing the ending of the story! - But, in the meantime, this is just another little fluffy chapter to help pass the time in Sango and Miroku's life.

Also, many of you asked about the name. I don't know if Arashi means anything, but I re-watched CLAMP's series 'X' (Not the movie… gah… stupid movie!) and I remembered how much I loved Arashi. It was not only the perfect name, but the perfect person to base their personalities off of. She's stupidly like Sango: uses a sword, a fighter, has a cute pervert who dotes upon her, tries everything to save said stupid pervert, tragic past… but most importantly: she has long black hair, and grey eyes. She physically _looks_ like how I would imagine their daughter to look. So that was it. It was kismet. They had to name her Arashi.

Iggy: Yup! You got it on the nose. That's exactly why Sango wanted to name the daughter Arashi.

Fireblade: Actually, no, but was I was thinking of a side note story regarding Arashi, Rin, Sesshy, and Kaede… as well as Shippo, maybe some more Yugo and Kari, and Kissaki. What do you think? I want to take a stab at writing A Rin/Sesshy story, and having Rin amongst all those aggressive girls would be fun to write…

Siren: As I stated above and so as you probably already saw... YES! I love CLAMP! For the most part all I collect is CLAMP! I discovered Inuyasha when my arch nemesis and closiest friend Toth-youkai gave it to me to read. At first I loved it for Inuyasha's ears… and then I met Miroku. And I loved it for him. And then I met Sango and worshipped the ground she walked on. And then I found out they were a couple.

Things went downhill from there.

Ninalee-chan: Lol! Actually, I saw it the other way around. This is the kid who will mooch food off of anyone… Shippo is going to be a spoiled little fix by the time these girls are done growing up!

TeamRocket: …Um… the sense of security will fall out… next chapter (I think), so you're safe for this chapter. (I promise you that Shippo will live, though….)

…

Man, I'm Evil.

Rogue Cowgirl: Kouga does rock socks. He's so often portrayed as being the bad guy, or an idiot… I'm telling you people, he's just blinded by love!

Onyx: Wow. You know… there's no more making out for the rest of the story. Sorry. ::Sweatdrops::

Lily: As soon as stops being mean to me, I plan on reading your pregnancy scene.

Furyou: Yeah, well... :;blushes:: I'm crazy like that. Trying new fan fic ideas rock socks. I wish I had more of them.

Chadirific: By my count… it was more than ten. A lot more. Like, eleven. ::recounts:: Okay, I can't do math.

Thank you for all the wonderful comments! Enjoy the fluffyness!

Chapter Twelve: 

First Words

I held my daughter in my arms, tired still two days after I had given birth. Arashi was a beautiful baby, her eyes a sparkling shade of blue that reminded me of my blood sister. I looked up when Miroku, Shippo hanging off his leg and Kirara on his shoulder, came in carrying a bowl of soup. "Suppertime!"

"I can feed myself," I said wearily, though I smiled at him. My smile grew when he kissed me in greeting and then he kissed the head of our daughter.

He placed the bowl beside me, and then he picked up my daughter, sitting beside me on the bed and keeping my daughter where I could see her. Arashi cooed softly and rolled over, her wide blue eyes staring at the cat and the fox demon looking down at her. Laughing gently, she reached out for Kirara. "You can feed yourself. I'm just here to watch my daughter."

Shippo was bouncing up and down with excitement. "Can I hold her? I mean… _may_ I hold her? Please Sango? Please Miroku?"

My husband handed her over to Shippo, picking them both up and holding them in his lap. Shippo needed no instruction to hold Arashi, though he was still so young and small the sight was almost comical. Miroku stroked Shippo's red hair, and looked at me from the corner of his eyes. "Are you feeling any better, yet?"

"A little. I'm still really tired though. I walked to the bathhouse today, and I couldn't make it back." My cheeks turned red under the soft gaze that fell on me, concerned and disapproving. But why should I be embarrassed that I was pushing myself already, trying to walk again before I stood up and found my muscles atrophied? Working my body could do no harm, surely, as I rested well in between my exercises.

How dare Miroku try to tell me to stay in bed, as if I were a woman three times my age who couldn't walk to her water-dish without younger, stronger _men_ to help her! Still, I tried to keep my anger under control. "Inuyasha had to help me back from there. Kari watched over Arashi, don't worry, I didn't take her to the bathhouse with me."

"No, I'm more concerned that you tried walking so far all by yourself. You _were_ by yourself, weren't you? Shouldn't you have asked Yugo or someone to escort you, that way you couldn't fall and hurt yourself or…"

"Miroku!" It was a snap, but I hissed it. I think it was the anger in my eyes more than my voice that kept him from going on any further about worst case scenarios. I was positively glaring at him, and in ten years, my glares at gotten ten times better. Even Shippo looked worried. Miroku could worry about me, but as my husband or not, he was not allowed worrying about me to the point that the reason why I'm not allowed moving from my own bed is because I might stub my own toe.

"Miroku, I'm perfectly fine. Stop acting like me being a little sore and tired is the end of the world. I just gave _birth_. I think that if I wasn't a little sore and tired by having a _new human being_ coming out from a hole this big between my _legs_, I would be inhuman."

I softened my voice, and I patted his shoulder gently. I felt bad for raising my voice when I saw his dark eyes flicker away from my face. Miroku was just trying to help me, after all, trying to make sure that I was always safe and protected, and as much as I loved it, I knew that as soon as I was well again, I was going to have to challenge him to a fight and remind him what I'm capable of. "I'm going to be all right, understand? I don't need to be petted and fretted over. Just give me a day or do to relax, let me walk around a bit, and by the end of the month, I'll be able to beat you up again; you'll see." I kissed his cheek, and began to eat my supper.

I _hated_ being confined to my bed. It made me feel like an invalid. I may have just given birth, but I was far from being an invalid. I wanted fresh air, and blue skies, and to take my daughter out and show her grasshoppers and butterflies and grass and flowers before winter came. But I really was tired. The walk to the bathhouse for me to freshen up had taken so much out of me that when I was done I had slept for an hour and a half straight, though it was the middle of the afternoon.

Nor would I admit it, but I was a little… hot. I asked Kari if she found it warm, and when she said no, I let the matter drop. The look in her eye had been both a concern and a warning. If I started asking questions that seemed odd, people were going to get worried again. They were going to start thinking that I had a fever, or that something else was wrong with me besides being tired, and sore, and did I mention missing a lot of blood?

Shippo had gotten Kagome later on in the night. Miroku had sent him because I was still bleeding. Kagome had cursed like Inuyasha, so that even her husband's ears were looking a little pink-tinged. Though Inuyasha had wisely pointed out that she was not a doctor and there could have been no way for her to anticipate my body not stopping bleeding, she still blamed herself. I could see it every time she looked at me since that eve, feel it every time she stood at the shrine gates and watched Inuyasha and Miroku try and control twenty students learning various stages of wrestling or sword work.

She had rushed in, and I was already beyond awareness at that point. I was still awake. I know I was awake, because I remember watching Kagome pale and tell Inuyasha to get her the little sewing kit she carried with her. I couldn't feel anything as she sewed me back together after trying to make everything as sterile as she possibly could.

And now, when my students pass my tent, I could tell that they were worried for me, as if no one else in the camp was praying for me and they were doing it all themselves.

I would be fine!

I was just tired…

Rubbing my head, I put the stew back down, and drew the blankets up. Miroku gave me a look that at that moment I thought it was the closest my husband could come to glare at me. I shrugged a little. "I don't really want to eat right now. I'm not hungry."

His voice was rough, and positively cold. His eyes looked a little more fierce. "I don't care if you just ate a whole horse. You eat that food, Sango. You need to get some fluids in you and food to get up your physical strength again. If you don't eat, your body won't have anything to use to heal itself, and you'll just waste away."

"But I'm not…"

"Eat!!" Arashi jumped in Shppo's arms, and Miroku briefly looked wholeheartedly ashamed. Then he looked back at me, and he was still angry and frustrated. He changed his approach. "You want to be able to beat me up, right? You want to be able to go out there and relieve Inuyasha and teach again, right? Then eat, Sango. If you don't eat…"

He gently took Arashi from Shippo and held her up over his face, facing me. His rose his voice as high as he could. "If you don't eat, you're going to be faced with me, Wild Dragon Baby Face Arashi! You eat Mommy, and you get well soon!"

I laughed as Arashi calmly looked around, taking in all she could from this new, strange angle. When her blue eyes fixed on me, she made a happy sound, and I laughed. Sitting up a bit more, I kissed her button nose and was rewarded with a little sneeze of agitation. My smile grew, and when Shippo poked his head from around Miroku, I grabbed him and planted a big, wet kiss on his cheek as he tried to get away from me. Letting Shippo hug my shoulder, I appraised Miroku, and the way he leaned forward with his lips pursed, expecting a kiss.

"Well…." I kissed his cheek, but Miroku wouldn't stop waiting for a real kiss. Rolling my eyes, I gave him a kiss on his mouth, telling him that that had been the most unappealing sight I had ever seen. But I picked up the stew and I began to eat again.

Miroku merely kissed my forehead as I chewed a piece of beef and smiled. "I'm sorry for being so adamant about you healing. I know that when you're like this, the last thing you want to be reminded of is how much you have left to heal, but I don't like you like this either. I want my comrade in arms back, and I'm not going to get her back unless you help yourself get better. Besides, this will make a wonderful story for Arashi, how you and her used to spend all day together when she was a baby. Speaking of our little angel," he said, getting up, "I think she needs a change. Is it alright if I can bathe her again tonight?"

I nodded, and Miroku left. As he left, I could already hear Arashi starting to make the sounds of agitation I had become familiar to in only two days. She didn't like bath time, and I doubted I could ever be as good with her at that time as Miroku. His calm voice and hand gestures amused her to no extent as he changed her and bathed her, telling her stories I'm certain he was making up off the top of his head.

Looking over at the demon still sharing my shoulder, I whispered to him a secret. He grinned and flew to the hidden place where Miroku kept his sweets. Pulling out some candied nuts, he joined me on the bed, eating thoughtfully as he watched me take every bite of my stew. No doubt Miroku had told him to make sure I eat.

"So what do you think of your little sister?" I asked him gently, stirring the soup in the bowl as I worked on developing the will to take another bite.

"How long will it be until I can play with her, the way I do with Inuyasha?"

Thinking of the way the two demons rough housed with each other, I smiled and absentmindedly took another bite of soup. "I think that will be some years yet, Shippo. She's only two days old. First she has to learn how to sit up first, and then walk… and wait until she has enough dexterity to grab your fingers, Shippo! It's amazing when that happens, and you'll be surprised how much grip a little baby human has."

He thought a bit about this, and then nodded. "Good. I'm glad it will be years. I like having a little sister to take care of, and I want to as long as I possibly can. Because…" Shippo was quiet, and when he looked up at me, his green eyes were thoughtful. "Because one day, I'm going to become the little brother, aren't I?'

I nodded, with some sadness. I was unable to comfort him or guide him at all in this matter. I could never understand being someone's protector, and then having them die suddenly and knowing that there was nothing I could do about it because it was natural. No, that's not true. I understood some of that; I just couldn't understand it from Shippo's position. How did he?...

And then it suddenly occurred to me, as I sat there trying to contemplate people, why Miroku _was_ being adamant about me healing as soon as possible. Arashi. Not my child, but the woman who would have been my mother-in-law. She had given birth to Miroku, and had died of complications with that birth later on. Miroku had never found out what those "complications" were. Had she bled a lot, like me? Had she rushed things and not been able to heal herself completely? Or had she been so happy to have a son that she ignored eating and healing completely and she had simply wasted away?

Did Miroku think that what had happened with his mother, would happen to me as well?

I wouldn't let it! If there was anything I could do to get better, I would do so! I… I didn't want to leave anyone! I would fight to remain in this world as long as I could. Just as Miroku had, under that tree as he fought against the wind tunnel, so I would demand my muscles to repair, my veins to heal and my body to conform to what I wanted once again. I drained the rest of the brew in one strong gulp.

Shippo was surprised at this. It seemed I had done it out of nowhere. He nearly fell off the futon as I got up. I grabbed the walking stick that Inuyasha had been kind enough to find for me, and I leaned my weight upon it, the bowl shaking a bit in my hand.

"Sango?"

I smiled over my shoulder at him. "I'm just going to go and get more soup, Shippo. You don't have to worry. I'm not going far. I'm not going to let this thing beat me."

He grinned wildly, and scampered after me. Looking up at me, he was overflowing with mischief that had been well hidden a moment ago. "You know, just then, you reminded me a bit of Miroku. He sure rubbed off on you, I think for the better. And I think you did on him too. Maybe that's why he's such a good father. I mean, they say that women are good mothers by nature, right?"

"Maybe, but it's not true. I can think of several mothers who deny that rule. Miroku is just a natural with children, especially our child. There's something about Arashi… but I can't tell what it is yet, Shippo. When I look at her, there's this funny feeling in my heart, and the world sometimes seem to blur. I see some of you in her, and Kagome in the way that she sees the world as if all of it is new, but I can't see anything of Miroku or myself in her yet." I laughed, and filled my bowl of soup, walking back to bed with my crutch. "But, she is only a few days old. I don't think that I can see anything of me in her until she picks up a sword, or anything of Miroku in there until she starts to flirt with all the boys."

"My daughter will be doing no such thing." Miroku stood in the doorway, a clean and happy Arashi in his arms. He looked at the full bowl and arched en eyebrow, suspicious of me.

"It's my second bowl! Honest!"

Shippo nodded, and Miroku was satisfied. Miroku watched me eat as he burped Arashi, making certain that all of the bubbles of air were out of her system before she went to bed. He rocked back and forth on the ground, his large hand nearly taking up all of her back as he rubbed it. My eyes filled with love at the sight, and I left the bowl to move over to him and pat his cheek with my hand.

"How did you come to be such a wonderful person, Miroku?" I asked. I leaned in close, my voice low, and surprisingly suggestive. I searched his eyes, and found only confusion. Sighing, I rephrased it. "How did you ever come to be such a wonderful husband?"

He touched my face back lightly. Arashi was done burping, and before he answered me, he shifted her in his arms, holding her close as she began to fall asleep. When he looked up at me, his dark eyes were not worried, they were not happy, or sad, they were just filled with naked honesty. My heart beat faster, and I heard his words, fastening them to my heart with hoops of gold, and after that, I can't remember a thing.

Except that I was happy.

-

We had a happy childhood, once I was able to stand up and actually walk again without getting tired. Shippo was a wonderful help, as was Kaede-chan. Both of them would come running to me when I said I had to feed my daughter, who rode around in the harness on my back, and would offer their services in a heartbeat. I would gladly hold Arashi in my lap and Shippo and Kaede-chan would take turns feeding her mashed vegetables or fruit, or whatever we were having that day.

The two children always tried to include Arashi in whatever they did, though she was only months old. They would look with hopeful eyes at we four parents, asking if they could play with Arashi, and we would all feel horrible when we told them that she was sleeping, or too young or little for whatever game they were playing.

When Kaede-chan came and played in the feudal era, it was just her and Shippo, always, or the older children. The younger ones were wary of them, and looked at them from afar. When they asked if they wanted to join, they always scurried away from them. Perhaps it was Shippo's demon heritage, or perhaps it was Kaede-chan and her odd combination of Inuyasha and Kagome's appearances, or perhaps both of these things put together that made children so wary of playing with both of them at the same time.

Already Kaede-chan was demonstrating how much she took after her father, and he was always ready to talk about her exploits, eager to brag now that he could do so without making Miroku and I feel sad that we had not been able to conceive. Kaede-chan was only as tall as the Tetsusaiga, but already she was trying to weald it. When it left Inuyasha's side in the feudal era, or the mantle over the fireplace in the future, it was because Kaede-chan was already waving it up and down, trying to make it whistle in the air. Her father had promised her that when she could make it whistle, would he teach her how to use it.

I sensed her mother's hand in that agreement.

We had another unexpected child show up in the village, this one for a more permanent duration. Kissaki, escorted by both her parents, came to join our school. Kohaku and his wife fawned over Arashi, and I more than happily did so with Kissaki, nearly dreading the time when I had to be her teacher and not her aunt.

It was nice to see my brother and sister-in-law.

Miroku and I, our anniversary flew by. By far it was the least loneliest, and the most amusing anniversary we ever had. I was already in bed, tired from teaching and taking care of Arashi, who slept close beside me. Miroku was up late helping Kagome with a woman having trouble sleeping, making a very large broth for her, enough so that when Kagome went home to tend to things there the village woman would be able to find sleep. Shippo had nightmares, something I can't blame him for, thanks to his wonderful imagination and the things we had seen in the past. Even I had nightmares about the things I had both seen and done as we fought Naraku. I wish I had been able to write down the fantastical stories Miroku had created for Arashi, so that I could have told them to Shippo.

Anyway, Shippo was curled up on the other side of me, sound asleep, and Arashi on the other side, when Miroku walked in. He threw his robes on the ground, too tired to fold them up the way he normally did before he went to bed. He collapsed on our futon, and supported himself on an arm as he checked over his family. He gently brushed Arashi's dark hair from her sleeping face, too moved by the sight of his daughter to wish her goodnight in case he woke her. Shippo he carefully moved so that there would be enough room for him in the bed as well, and let out a little sigh when Shippo automatically clung to him, mumbling something.

Then he looked at me. He kissed my temple, and my eyes fluttered. I raised a hand from around Arashi to touch his cheek, brushing his bangs and tracing his ear in the darkness, gently touching his earrings to hear them shake and chime in the still room. He kissed my palm, inhaling my scent deeply as he pulled the blankets around me again, and held me fast as he fell asleep.

We'd set nothing to each other, and yet I think that was one of the most romantic anniversaries I ever had.

Time seemed to fast forward, even for us humans, and soon we were all sitting around one day, talking. Kaede-chan was visiting again, and she and Shippo were playing a game Kaede called "patty-cake" with Arashi, who was now sitting up on her own and walking around, though she was never very far from Miroku or myself. Kari sat with Kissaki, who was styling her hair for her and talking about boys, while Yugo hovered nearby, a grumpy look on his face and his arms crossed, making Kagome giggle whenever she saw him. Though Yugo looked nothing like Inuyasha, we all knew the stance and the expression, and we all approved that he was taking after Inuyasha.

Kari was a sweet girl, with less anger than either Kagome or I. She kept her head in battle and as of late, had been sneaking away with Miroku and Kagome to learn as much of natural healing as she could, wisely saying that she felt someone who lived by the sword needed to know how to make up for the lives they would take.

Yugo was quiet, and he only really spoke when Kari was around. He was brash and he was as quick with the sword as he was with his mind. But Kari often spoke for him, no doubt easing what was a sharp tongue. Yugo's family loved Kari too, and she could often be found at their house, where his mother was more than willing to teach her things of which Kagome had no time and I had no knowledge.

Kissaki, ignoring all the boys in the village and spending all her time with the older girls who were already fully trained, had become like a young sister to them. She loved it when Kari practiced the things she had learned on her, whether it was a new fighting trick or something like how to do hair up nicely.

Then a new voice broke the air, and we stared at the child linking arms with our little kitsune. Arashi smiled at him, and repeated what she said. "Shippo."

Shippo suddenly blazed to life. He swung Arashi into his arms and held her up for us all to see. "Arashi spoke! Arashi spoke! I'm her first word! Come on, Arashi! Say it again!"

Arashi giggled. "Kae-e."

Kaede-chan, not caring that Arashi had not pronounced her name quite properly, leapt up as well and danced with Shippo and Arashi. "I'm her second word! I'm her second word!" She raced over to her parents and climbed on her father's lap, her voice sounding like her mother's before she would send Inuyasha plummeting to the ground. "You and Mommy need to make like a Miroku and get another child on the way right now. I want to be my brother or sister's first word, and then Shippo can be their second and we won't have any argument over which one was cuter."

"Shippo, Shippo, Shippo… hippo!" Arashi, adoring the attention she was getting, was not going to be quiet anytime soon.

Inuyasha said nothing to his daughter, but he did acknowledge her presence by rubbing her dark hair affectionately, his gold eyes watching Arashi. "Huh. Shippo. Who would have thunk it? I always thought his first would, given that Miroku his is father would have been fu… wait. 'Make like a Miroku'? How exactly can one 'make like a Miroku'?"

"It's a new phrase we came up with, Daddy," Kaede giggled. It will always be odd to hear him being called Daddy. "It means to have endless amounts of sex. If you and Mommy have lots of sex, then I'll have a big chance of having a brother or a sister, or maybe even both!"

Kaede's parents stared at her as she giggled. The same thought race through both their minds. 'Who taught our child about sex?!' They glared at my husband, and he shook his head and hands, trying very hard not to laugh. "Don't look at me!"

"Miroku," Inuyasha growled, his hand going to the hilt of his sword…

Kagome arched an eyebrow and looked at him from the corner of her eye. "Are you certain that you didn't mention something in their presence…."

He looked at me for help, but I was too busy laughing. I was holding my stomach, and leaning on Kari as we snickered at his predicament. I wiped tears from my eyes and looked at my husband. "Poor Houshi-sama!" I cried. "You've made such a reputation for yourself, that you can't undo it now that your character has… has…" I once again burst into giggles, but I saw that he knew I believed him through my eyes.

"So Daddy," Kaede continued, "what's sex?"  
Miroku pointed a finger at the other married couple. "I told you that I didn't teach them what sex was! They don't even know, they just know the word without realizing what con… text…." We all slowly looked at Shippo, who seemed to be using my little daughter as a shield. A groan escaped the group, knowing that Shippo was the one who had spilled the beans about sex leading to babies, and everything was set to right again.

Including that the next night Miroku proved to me just exactly how un-monk-like he was.

Everything had once again been put to right.


	13. Last Words

Complete and Unconditional

AN: I'm glad to see that everybody seemed to enjoy the 'make like a Miroku' comment! I like making people laugh, but I find it troublesome to do so via the written word.

Anyway, just a few general comments today:

-there won't be anymore lemon soufflés because I'm drawing near to the end, and because this is just reflections on their life from their perspective, so I decided to skip out on sex and just concentrate on a few moments that a lot of people don't seem to do: like the birth, like them having trouble having a child, like a few battles, like their relationship to their family and to the new demon slayers, not the physical relationship between just them.

-so I skipped the first time Arashi says 'Mommy' and 'Daddy'… (You'll see why by the second last chapter!) and just went with the first words to try and develop the filial bonds.

-they aren't going to have any more kids. Sango can't have anymore kids. (This would be part of the reason why I'm only alluding to their sex lives. I don't know anything about forms of birth control back then, so we're just neatly side-stepping that.) This will once again be covered…

In short… ::grins:: just hold on. There's only three more chapters to go. Actually, I think it's two chapters to go. Yup, two. Everything will make sense after that!

So, hold on folks, okay? Everything will make sense! (And I will hopefully find time to write more in the future!)

Oh, and thanks to Chadirific, who told me that 'Arashi' means 'storm', which is just perfect for her. (What with Sango being name related to water, and Miroku's wind-tunnel….) Enjoy!

Chapter Thirteen: Last Words

I felt her walk up behind me. It was impossible for anyone in the village not to recognize the sound of her approaching feet light on the ground, the sound of a half trained demon slayer. Or the scent of incense in the air and the strong aura in the air, encircling her like a brick wall to give her the strength to face demons armed with only a single sword.

"Arashi," I said, turning around and clasping my daughter to my heart, her nose coming up to my chin. Looking down at her when we pulled away, I kissed her cheeks in greeting and searched for any sign of weariness or anger. I found none. My daughter's face was as unreadable as my own, and her eyes, like Sango's could show only one emotion at a time, her way of thinking presenting her one challenge after another rather than several at once. Now she looked determined, but when she blinked and saw it was only us in the room, her eyes became wide with fear.

"Do you need anything?" I asked her, willing to bend over backwards to give her the sky if she needed it.

She shook her head, and then she changed her mind. Her voice was light and soft, older beyond her years. Sango and I had tried to protect her from everything in the world, from seeing human bloodshed and men such as myself, but we could not protect her from one thing: herself. She might appear older, and thanks to her wall-like aura that made men and women alike clear a path for her in the streets, she might appear as though she saw herself as superior, but when it was only her and I, Arashi let all her defenses drop. Deep down, she was only my sixteen year girl, carrying a burden with which I tried my best to help. "Can I have another hug?"  
Hugging her again, I kissed her hair, and held her at arm's length so that I could look at her. Arashi was by far the most beautiful woman I have ever seen, on equal parallel with her mother. Her hair had a slight curl to it, and it fell half way down her back when she let it loose. It was dark, so much so that at times it almost seemed to have a midnight blue tinge to it. Her face was shapely, with high cheekbones and a mouth that, though soft in shape, was set into a stubborn line. When she smiled, the color rose to her cheeks and it was possible to see the woman underneath the marble face. She was tall, almost as tall as I, and no doubt she would grow a little bit more before she finished. Her build was slender, fit and trim.

She smiled at me, that gorgeous smile that told me she loved me, even though she had not spoken such words in a very long time. "I should go and talk to Mother."

I nodded, and I patted her shoulder warmly. "If you feel uncomfortable talking to her alone, I will be more than willing to come with you."

Arashi kissed my cheek, as if I were the child that didn't understand. "All children need to say goodbye to their parents, Daddy." Yes, she called me 'Daddy', having picked it up from being around her cousin Kaede. "I am sad to so at such a young age, but if that is what this life has chosen for me, then that is what I must do, no matter how much I wish I could face the sunrise and wish it was my first, that I was young again and free to do what I wanted at the age when I was not aware of the mortality of my parents."

Never had I heard words sound so poetic as when Kaede says them. I know that she gets that from me, and I fancy that it was all the stories I told her as a child that made her vocabulary so grandiose, her enunciation perfect and her tone poetic and soft. But that is just a father's fancy, and it never ceases to amaze me how she spins fine webs around us all to keep us enamored of her and believing her wholeheartedly. If such powers as those were put to evil use… but we had taught her well the difference between right and wrong.

Arashi smiled at me, her stunning smile like Sango's, but the mischief in her eyes as she did so was always so young and innocent, I knew that it was Shippo who had taught her to be so cunning, rather than myself. Or perhaps I was just too aware of how her mind worked when it came to easing people over to her decisions using a smile and a joke. It was the same way I had made the weight of the kazaana lighter when I told people of the curse, and joked about it being possessed after I groped them a second later.

"Besides, you don't want to go in there. It's time for girl talk, Daddy."

I felt a bit of color rise to my cheeks, remembering the few times I had entered such discussions. There are some things no man, monk, or pervert should have to hear his daughter and his wife talk about. "Call me if you need me."

"Yes, Daddy." She kissed my cheek again and turned away, the wall of confidence enclosing the air around her, her eyes cold… not cold… but defensive in their business-like expression, and I worried. Things had not always gone so well for Sango and Arashi, no matter how hard they tried. Arashi was too smart to fall for her mother's smiles and reassurances that everything was alright, and Sango had closed everything down so deep so that she would not tell even me.

But I could guess.

She had dreamed of so long for a child that would be the next greatest slayer, who would rebuild her home town as she had failed to do (in her opinion), and that she would live to see grandchildren… and this was not the case. It was a young woman's dream that Sango could not let go of no matter how much she loved Arashi, and how proud she was of our daughter, because it had been her security blanket. It had helped to keep her warm on those evenings when hope threatened to float away, after the incident that had led me to those words I had longed to hear for so long. 'I will bear your child, Miroku'.

A child would mean her lineage would continue. A child would mean that she had a husband, hopefully even the man who had captured her heart and gave it back to her willingly so that he would not hurt it accidentally. A child would mean she would have a student. A child would mean she had someone to dote upon, someone to love and someone who loved her back when all else was lost.

And that was not what she had received.

-

When Arashi had been almost five years old, she asked Sango when she could learn how to swing a sword, like cousin Kissaki, cousin Kaede, Uncle Inuyasha, and Shippo. Sango smiled, knowing that as Arashi thought of Kaede like an older sister, and obviously Shippo as a brother, what had been said for one would only suffice to say to the other. She stroked Arashi's hair, and she said gently that she could start when she was old enough and strong enough to be able to make a sword swish through the air.

Arashi pouted, playing with her mother's black pants. "But that might take _forever_! I'll have to become as big as Shippo before I can swing a sword, even the little practice one that he's using!"

"I said that you could start learning how to use a _sword_ when you're old enough, Arashi. I didn't say that you couldn't start coming to class, if you wanted."

Her dark blue eyes brightened, and she jumped up and down. "Yes, Mother! I'd like that very, _very_ much!" Though only five, Arashi had a very adult way of speaking. "Just the morning classes though, so that I can start becoming stronger. I don't think that Daddy would like it very much if I stopped skipping classes with Kagome and he."

"No," Sango agreed with amusement, "I don't think he would at all." She put the last dish away in our little kitchen, and then she scooped up Arashi, swinging the girl up on her shoulders. "I think that we ought to go to class now, don't you? Since Inuyasha is visiting us this weekend, he's teaching grappling. Would you like to see Uncle Inuyasha teach like he does in Kagome's time?"

"Oh, please! I've always wanted to see that class!"

She looked at her daughter suspiciously, wondering why her daughter would want to see classes where people rolled around together. She figured that it was my influence, and she planned on confronting me about it, perhaps going so far as to prove to me why grappling could sometimes be seen as something looking physically like an act often described as perverted and not for children.

I love my wife.

Sango carried Arashi to grappling class, and she deposited our little girl in front of Inuyasha. The silver haired demon acknowledged her presence with the sweet smile I had sometimes seen him wear before he squished Myoga, and then he turned back to watching the class, making sure that no one was getting hurt.

Arashi frowned, and pulled on Inuyasha's pants. "Uncle Inuyasha," she said firmly, "I want to join class."

He looked surprised, and then he looked at Sango. She nodded, standing by the square that Kari and I were using to grapple. She was hoping that her presence was going to distract me enough so that I would lose and admittedly, it nearly did. Kari managed to get a good arm lock on me before I flipped over and pinned us both on our backs, my weight and muscle superior to hers.

Inuyasha scratched his head, and then picked Arashi up so that she could balance on his shoulder and play with his ears. Inuyasha had gotten used to many of the children doing so, and complained about it less. He figured that if his ears were getting attention, it was better that people were hollering to play with them rather to severe the head to which they were attached. "Okay, Arashi. You can team up with Kaede when our five minutes are up. They still have another forty-five seconds before the men need to escape from the girls."

Sango was surprised. She was about to ask Inuyasha why the men had to get away from the girls, but she knew the answer. Sometimes women could be as strong and aggressive as males. Wasn't she a good example? How many people thought she hated me simply because she slapped me when I grabbed her ass? Kari was another good example, as I tried to stand up and she tackled me back down to the ground. For a wee little thing, she was surprisingly strong.

Our half-demon teacher called time, and he looked around. Only Yugo had been able to get away from his female partner. He showed no sign of being proud of himself, and the girl was panting heavily, looking quite proud of herself. Inuyasha's voice was clear. "Let that be a lesson to you men: often females are more aggressive than us, and they will fight tooth and claw to get away. Had this been a no holds barred fight, how many of you think you would have been bitten, kicked in the balls, or scratched at?"

The boys shuffled nervously, and Inuyasha 'hmphed'. I looked at Kari, who was staring at Yugo, her eyes bright. "How come Yugo was able to get away?" I complained.

Kari giggled. "He's _very_ flexible."

I only hoped that Sango didn't know all that was apparently going on between those two. I don't think she would like the idea of two of her students having such a relationship under the noses of not only their parents, but four teachers as well.

"Okay, boyos. Switch up partners. This time, we're going to try something new." He tapped his foot. "Come on; it doesn't really matter who your partner is. Except for you, Kaede. I want you to fight with Arashi. Go easy on her, understood?"

Kaede nodded. "Yes, sensei!" She took Arashi's hand and showed her the beginning stance, kneeling down across from each other.

I approached Sango. I would love the excuse to grapple with her. I'm afraid my smile was slightly lecherous as I took her hand. "My darling Sango, would you do me the honor of being my _uke_, my enemy in this most wondrous battle?" She nodded with a little laugh, and smacked my head lightly. As we knelt on the hardwood floor, whispers went through the class that Sango and I were to grapple.

"I betcha that he gropes her," one student said to his partner.

"You're on!"

Sango sniffled, and we missed the instructions Inuyasha was relaying. I looked at her concerned, and we placed our hands on each other's shoulders. "You're not feeling well again, Sango?" Over the past few years, Sango had been having troubles with colds. It was especially odd since before she had come down with a cold that had turned into something Kagome called 'pneumonia' and had knocked Sango into bed for over three weeks (she was not a happy camper, I assure you) she had been perfectly well. In our years traveling, Sango had never gotten a cold. Now, even in the warmest weather, she always had a bit of a chill, and a bit of a sniffle.

"It's nothing," Sango promised me.

"Hajime!"

We began. Sango's hands squeezed my shoulder and I felt her start to rock back, planning on throwing me. I pulled back, and tried to drag her down to the side instead, hoping I caught her off guard. I did, but she smiled, already changing her plan. Sango threw her leg over my waist and pulled her weight over to that side, rolling us over so that I was pinned on my back with her legs straddling my waist. But my hands were still free. I tightened my grip, planning on throwing her as she had thrown me. Sango's arm moved from my shoulder to my neck, hoping a choke hold could keep me from throwing her.

It did, and I ducked my chin to keep from getting choked by her. It was uncomfortable, but it meant I would lose the fight less quickly. My hand moved, trying to grab her neck and do the same to her. Sango ducked not only her neck, but her whole head. My other hand grabbed her foot, trying to get her into a toe lock, and when she moved her weight to scoot her toe further away, my hand that had been trying to get her in a choke hold grabbed her opposite shoulder and I pushed all my strength forward, rolling us over again. Her hand fell away, and she had to break her fall from the force of my shove. My knee pinned her arm to the ground, and I smiled, thinking I had the upper hand.

I had forgot how flexible she was. Her foot came up and grabbed me in the neck with her heel, pulling me back down. Her free arm grabbed my foot, locking it between her legs, as her foot kept me from moving up. I still pinned her body with most of mine, and her other hand was still beneath my leg.

"Does this mean it's a tie?" I asked, tired and breathing heavily.

Sango smiled and grabbed my pinky toe, twisting it slightly. Her smile made her look like she was about to burst into laughter. "Toe lock."

I tapped my hand quietly, grumbling something about toe locks, when we heard Arashi start crying. Sango and I bolted up, heading to our daughter. Another voice joined in the crying, smaller and older, trying very hard not to cry not out of fear like Arashi, but out of pain. The other students had all stopped, slowly getting out of the knots they had formed and standing up to see what the matter was.

I reached her first. Arashi held her hands up and I scooped her up into my arms, letting her cry into my shoulder, her hands warm on my bare skin despite the heat I had made by working out. Inuyasha picked up his daughter, gently, holding her in her arms even though she was so large now that in such a position she was a head taller than her father.

Kaede sniffled loudly, and we could see her torn skin through the burn marks in her gi. Inuyasha was already using his other hand to slowly and carefully undo his daughter's gi, trying to see the wounds clearly and see what had happened that made his daughter dry her cheeks and inhale in gulps, trying to keep from crying in front of her father. "It's, it's not her fault, Daddy. Don't be mad at Arashi. She's scared because she thinks you're going to be furious with her for accidentally hurting me."

Inuyasha's gold eyes softened, and he took a deep breath. We could tell that he was only worried and not angry, but we had known him for over fifteen years. With Inuyasha, it was very hard to tell sometimes. With his golden eyes, he often looked angry. "I'm not mad at you, Arashi-chan."

"Re… re… really?" she sobbed, slowly lifting her head from my shoulder to look at him. Inuyasha nodded, and her eyes welled up with tears again. Sango was shooing the rest of the class out of the room. "But… I hurt cousin Kaede! I didn't mean to! I really didn't mean to hurt her! I was… I was…"

Sango reappeared beside me and kissed Arashi's forehead. She didn't try to take her from me, but she stood close, holding her hand to the small of my back and brushing Arashi's wet cheek dry with the other hand, trying to be comforting. "It's okay, Arashi. Tell us what happened, love. We know that whatever it was, it was an accident."

Neither of us had seen what Inuyasha's clothes had looked like after Kikyo had gotten through with him when she had first been reincarnated. If we had, we wouldn't have needed an explanation. Inuyasha already knew. He could smell it in the air, even though this was different from the power that Kagome and Kikyo had possessed. His voice was so cold I wanted to strike him down as Arashi threatened to break down again. "She's a priestess."

Sango almost laughed at the idea. Then she looked at me and for a moment, she didn't see her husband, or a fellow demon slayer, she saw me clad in the clothes I used to wear, in the robes of a monk. I felt the holy powers in me still, even if I had turned away from them. If I hadn't, I would not have been able to work on purifying the Shikon shards I myself had found, to exorcise or to use ofuda. Though I was not a monk based upon the road I had chosen from the moment I left Mushin, one with drinking and women and the desire for revenge, I was still a monk based upon what I could do.

She felt silly in that moment, thinking that our daughter might not have gotten any of that power.

Arashi stopped crying, and simply clung to us, allowing Sango to stroke her hair and try and put something between her little body and Inuyasha, who continued to speak. "You know that Kagome and Miroku can't keep on doing what they're doing. It's difficult on everyone."

"But it's easier that putting all that responsibility on our daughter!" Sango protested.

"Kaede did it," I said quietly. I didn't say it quietly enough. Sango heard me, and I instantly regretted my words; she felt that I had taken Inuyasha's side, and in some small way, I had. I didn't agree with his argument, or with Sango's, but if my daughter possessed some, or hopefully more, of the power I felt within me, then she needed to accept that part of her and learn to control it, that way she would never accidentally hurt somebody again. An uncontrolled priestess was a dangerous thing.

It meant that we had found Kaede's replacement. We knew what life we were getting our daughter into when the next morning she went with me to the shrine, where I would teach her all I knew. Her life would be all study. She would be up from dawn to dusk, even at her young age. She would study to become a priestess, study the scrolls and learn her numbers and letters as any smart child should do. She would learn to defend herself, the same way anyone should, using her body, and except for the last, she would learn by herself.

To be a priestess was to be alone. No man was supposed to enter into your life and soil your thoughts, nor children to distract you from your duties. Your family, once your protectors and your haven, became simply another household, simply more people you were meant to protect and help through life. Oh, everyone would love and respect her, for she protected and healed them, but it was not the same thing.

We were losing our daughter to herself.

Sango saw I would not be moved in this decision. She hated me for it, but I would explain it to her in the morning, maybe see if I couldn't make her understand tomorrow morning. Until then, I hugged my daughter closer to me, who looked pale and nervous, as if she understood what we were discussing. "We will start her training tomorrow," I told him, my voice surprisingly stern. "Not a moment before then. Until tomorrow morning, she's still our daughter."

Inuyasha nodded, understanding, and we left him, taking our daughter back home.

As I held my daughter to me so close that no one could take her from me, Sango walked behind me, thinking and remembering all in the same instant. She thought back to when Kagome was away, when I stopped warming our bed with my body and slept in the temple, waking up each morning to clean and purify and set things up for people to come and pray, and staying late each night to make sure everything was just-so. It was no wonder that it was I who clung to my daughter, feeling like I didn't have a future with her, when I barely had a past with her. At least Sango had seen her everyday, held her close as she fed our daughter, and had been there to keep the nightmares at bay.

On one such evening, a year earlier, Arashi had wandered into Sango's room, clutching her blanket, her eyes red from crying. Kirara trotted, yawning, at Arashi's heels. The cat demon usually alternated her time with all the young ones, befriending them as she had Sango when Sango had been their age. Sango had awoken the moment she heard her daughter approach, and she sat up in bed, lifting the blankets for the girl, who climbed inside without a single word.

Sango had stroked Arashi's black hair, making soothing sounds to calm the tears she could sense Arashi still crying on the inside. "What is it, honey? Is it a nightmare?" Arashi shook her head. Sango asked a few more question, probing her daughter's mind gently, teasing her about her blanket and some other things. "So tell me what's made you so sad, and I'll do my best to fix it."

"I… I… I miss Daddy!"

Sango felt our daughter's weight press into her neck as she threw herself at her mother, sobbing again, and she felt a brief stab of anger in her heart. She missed me too; it wasn't fair that I had to be away so many nights, that I couldn't sit at the table with them because I was often working so hard I missed meals, and it certainly wasn't fair that Arashi missed me. How would she remember me when she was older, if all she could remember was crying to her mother that I wasn't around enough?  
At the next moment the hot anger had turned into some emotion still burning and boiling, but happier. 'It's better,' Sango thought, 'that he's missing tucking her into bed every other week instead of watching her grow from heaven and unable to hold her.'

"Love," Sango said warmly, tilting her daughter's face up to hers, "I know that you don't remember it, but right after you were born, Kagome stayed here for two full months, that way Miroku could watch the students, and we could both have our time with you while I recuperated to giving birth to you. It seemed, amazingly, that you had decided to come out early, but as soon as my body agreed with you, you had changed your mind and didn't want to leave." Arashi giggled.

"Your father, I swear, from the first day, didn't want to take his eyes off of you. He just kept telling me how beautiful you were, how proud and strong you already looked, and how smart you were. Often times, he would just carry you around as you slept, that way you were never far away. He made up wonderful stories about gods and princesses and women who could slay demons in a single stroke of their sword, because he said that a girl who was the daughter of a demon slayer would surely like stories like that. When he told them to you, whether you understood or not, you would smile and try and clap your hands and feet when he made fantastic gestures or amusing voices, and during the scarier parts, you would suck your thumb… occasionally even your foot."

"I did that?" Arashi asked with her wide grey-blue eyes. "Ew…"

My wonderful wife neglected to mention that the first time I had seen Arashi do that, I had demanded why Sango wasn't that flexible. But she had continued, nodding, and saying, "You had eyes only for your father, those first few years of your life, and for your brother. Shippo would come and take you from me when I would teach a class, and he would take you around town, showing you off to everybody and telling you all about history and great events that had happened in the town.

"Your father loves you very much, Arashi. I know that he misses you very much, and as soon as he comes in at night, the first thing he does is check on you and Shippo, and kiss you good night or good morning, and only then does he come to see me, and I would stay up late telling him about all the wonderful things you two do together."

"I know, Mother," Arashi said quietly; always mother, it was always 'mother' with Sango, never Mommy. "I just wish I could hear him say it again."

What Sango didn't hear, perhaps because of the late hour, or perhaps because Arashi was good at hiding things from her mother's watchful eye, was a handful of unspoken words. 'I want _someone_ to tell me they love me.'

"How much power do you actually have?" Sango asked, seemingly out of the blue. She still walked slightly behind me. I think it would hurt her if she saw my face. She wanted to know why we hadn't foreseen this. We both knew I had magic, and that I was at least as good as Kaede had been, but that had been when she was old, and I had been seventeen years younger.

I tried to avoid the politeness of turning to look at her when I answered, knowing that I didn't want to see her either, didn't want to confirm the pain that she was in. Most couples would have been happy to have a strong priestess in their family, but we weren't most people, were we? Most people didn't try for ten years to have a child; most couples didn't go off and battle demons on a regular basis; most people didn't have a kitsune for a son or a hanyou for a brother-in-law. Most people might have seen it as a way to avoid a dowry, most people might have seen it has a chance to become respectable.

All we wanted was our daughter.

"Had I not been fighting day and night to control the kazaana, I would have been stronger. How much stronger, I don't know. I had the ability to purify jewels, but it would take me hours or days to do so, while Kagome could do it in a second. Shields, wards, I could do those. Exorcise a demon, yes, but banishing it into dust, like Kagome does? That was beyond my ability. How much power did I have? I don't know, but then, we won't know if Arashi has more or less than I do until she's trained." I sighed. "But you're right. We should have seen this coming. We should have prepared ourselves."

"There are many things we should have done over the years; we can't change them. We just have to do our best not to repeat them," Sango wisely pointed out. I dropped one of my hands, and she clutched to it. "We'll just have to try and make things as easy for her as we possibly can."

After that we walked back the rest of the way in silence.

We put Arashi to bed together, pulling the blankets up to her chin, and I wrapped my arm around Sango's waist, holding her against me. Being able to lean on someone, to feel her hands lean back on me, her head resting under my chin and her scent filling the air, I was comforted. We leaned down and kissed Arashi; she'd fallen asleep on the way home.

"We love you, Arashi."

And then Sango and I went to our own room, talking lightly and kissing each other now and then until Shippo came home, and made sure he was in bed. Only then did we undress and crawl into our bedroll, our naked bodies pressed against each other tightly, and we took solace in each other's company.

-

Sango heard the noise, even over her own raspy breathing. She coughed, telling them they could come in, and she struggled to sit up. She smiled when she saw it was Arashi, and she wished Arashi would smile back. Instead the grey-eyed woman merely swallowed hard.

The silence was the most uncomfortable thing either of them had ever endured before.

Sango decided to break it. Her eyes were cold, but her voice warmed slightly. "You haven't been eating enough. You need to eat more, Arashi."

"Mother," Arashi answered in the patronized voice all teenagers used with their parents. "I'm eating fine!"

The silence again.

Sango broke it again. Faced with death, she needed to face up to the one thing, the one person in life she had never felt she had been there for, the one person she felt she had never been able to fully support. "Arashi… even though I am your mother, you don't care for me that much do you?" Arashi's silence was answer enough. She turned her face away from our daughter, not wanting her to see the shame there. "May I ask why?"

Arashi had thought it would be hard, telling her mother what she had always thought about her. She found that it was so easy that for a moment she wondered if she should have never been called a priestess. "When was the last time you held me?" she said. Her voice was close to a yell, and yet Sango knew it would not be audible beyond their room. "When was the last time you told me how proud you were of me? When was the last time you smiled at me without pity in your eyes, a pity for the life that I willingly accepted and have grown to love? When was the last time you told me you loved me? When was the last time you gave me the honor of fighting you, just so that I could show you all the hours of practice I had done over the years in secret? All the work I did, all the time I tried to get some kind word from you, and you never even seemed to _notice_!"

Arashi's body simmered with uncontrolled rage, and frustrated tears dripped over her pink cheeks. "All my life I had to live in your shadow! All my life, all I have ever heard is: 'I can see so much of your father in you; where is your mother?' All the other students you spend hours teaching a single stance to, they look at me with arrogance because they are living the life you wanted for me, as if they are more important to you because they're your precious demon slayers, while I am just your child!

"And now… now you ask me what you've done wrong, on your _fucking_ death bed, as if asking and letting me cry might prove to you that I'm still your little girl and that one hug can make it all up! Like one simple hug can make up for all the times I cried myself to sleep because I didn't want to lead my life the way you wanted me to, and that you hate me for it!"

She dried her cheeks. "All the times you became sick, and you never came and asked me for help. If you did, I might have been able to stop this before it got this far. But you stupid… you stupid… you _never_ asked for my help! Not _ever_! _Why_? Because you thought that I would think you were weak for relying on me? Because you couldn't stand to look at me? Even now... even now you aren't looking at me.

"Well, let me tell you something. I _am_ like you, Mother! I'm more like you than you will ever know!"

Sango said nothing, keeping her face hiding behind the dark hair that hid her face. Arashi frowned, and she stood up, her clothes swishing in the still room. She picked up the sword she had taken from her side when she had sat down, and she turned to leave.

"You have my anger," Sango said quietly. It was enough to Arashi, clinging to the hope that those few words offered her. Neither of them moved to look at each other, but Sango kept talking. "You hide it more than I do, because you have your abilities to hide your emotions behind your smile, like Miroku does, but I was never very good at that, because I was always sad, until I had freed Kohaku, and then I was so happy nothing could make me stop smiling. Or, at least, that's how it felt.

"I know you have my anger, because when you were little I would bandage your arms and legs and cuts and bruises for you after you fought with people who called Kaede a hanyou, or made fun of Shippo's tail and fox-feet. After scrapping with you, they never teased them about it again, though they did tease Shippo about getting saved by his little sister. He just wisely pointed out that his little sister was training to be the village priestess, and that if they didn't show her some respect, he would show them who taught you how to wrestle.

"You have my strength. I know you do, because I watched you playing with the haraikotsu when you were little, trying to carry it on your back across the room, and then back again, using its weight to make you strong enough to pick up a sword, because priestess or not, I had made the promise that I would teach you how to use a sword when you could carry one. I never said anything to you, because I thought that it would embarrass you, and ruin the surprise you had planned for me.

"I was too sick to ever show you how to use a sword. Inuyasha did, because he's better with it then I could ever be. I'm clumsy with a sword, but I'm good enough to beat Miroku. Inuyasha's a natural with it. You should learn from the best, if you really wanted to know only the sword to defend yourself with. Otherwise, a mistake I would make in teaching you, like not spending an hour correcting a stance because I didn't know it was wrong to begin with, might get you killed.

"I never fought you because I know that I would lose. I didn't want to hurt my pride, I suppose, in my old age, but I had never known that you really wanted to fight me, and if it's any consolation, I regret it.

"I regret the fact that I could not accept that you became a Priestess. I regret the fact that after that, I was afraid to look at you, because I thought that I might accidentally let something slip, and you would know that deep down, I hurt, because this was not the life I imagined for you when I was younger, when I was your age. But pity? No, never pity. Perhaps I might have pitied the burden you were to carry if you were like other girls I had met, and there was some man that had caught your interest, or you spoke of becoming a mother when you were little before we knew about your abilities, but you never did.

"Even when you were young, you never spoke of boys, you never spoke of wanting to become a mother yourself. It reminded me of me; I never had an interest in those things until I was much older, around the age you are now. But I don't know how you thought I didn't love you, that I didn't love the lady you became, or that I wasn't proud of you."

Sango finally rolled over, sitting up and looking at her daughter. Arashi looked over her shoulder at Sango, and found tears clinging stubbornly to her mother's eyes. There was such ferocity in her eyes, that she didn't think that she had ever seen her mother look that way before, never seen her mother looking so much like a bloodthirsty animal trying to defend her territory. Had she asked me, I would have told her that Sango reminded me of a bear at times, frightening away people or demons that would hurt the village just by the look in her eyes and the size of her weapons.

Parents, all parents, look that way when someone means to hurt their children.

"All Miroku and I wanted was the best of us, in one person. You are that person, Arashi, though you do look more like him than me. But I'm glad that you do. Kohaku looks like me, and through him, Kissaki, so at least I know that brown eyes and freckles will last a wee bit longer. You look like Miroku, and he has only you, so I am glad that his eyes and smile could grace this world for at least one more lifetime. You have my strength, you have his wit… you are every bit the daughter I dreamed I would have with Miroku, and more. I am so proud of you, that those words are insufficient. As for telling you I loved you, I did, every night, and I hoped that somehow, you might be able to hear me."

Arashi shook her head; was she trying to keep herself from believing her mother? Arashi slowly sat back down. "Why are you telling me this now, Mother?"

It hurt Sango that she was still being called 'mother'. Her eyebrows drew together slightly, but rather than fight the confusion, she gave in, and it disappeared. "Because this is the only time I have left to tell you, straight from my own mouth, while I can look at you and marvel at the young lady you've become, and wish that I had had half as many defenses as you when I was your age. This is the last chance I have to hear you call me 'Mommy'. I was always jealous that Miroku got a special name, and I was simply 'Mother'."

Arashi shook her head. Often, I had seen Sango do the same thing at such emotional times, and it was because she was crying, trying to clear the tears away. If Arashi was crying, then she was by far better than Sango ever was at keeping them at bay. "But it didn't have to be! You could have come and seen me! I know as much as Daddy and Aunt Kagome put together, and I could have helped you hang on, so that we would have had longer together!"

"No. It's better this way. Had I tried to hang on longer, I would have stopped being myself. I couldn't be as energetic as I was, and my colds would have gotten worse, and I would have died some old woman alone in my bed. That's not the death I want."

"Mother! Look at you!" She gestured at where Sango was: she was in her bed, though very few could call her old, merely aged.

Sango chuckled dryly and patted her daughter's hand. "Don't fool yourself, Arashi. I might be resting in bed as I hope that I will be able to say goodbye to all of my friends, but I won't let myself end my life in this bed. It was my pride that brought me to this end, and I'll be damned if I my pride gives up now, so that I can't at least see the sunrise when I go, and be in fresh air, watching over the village that I have come to call home. That's the death I want. If I can't die in battle, then I want to be outside…"

Arashi didn't understand; Sango could see that, and her grip tightened around Arashi's hand. "You don't know how this came to pass, do you? You don't know why… I'll tell you… everything."


	14. Regret

Complete and Unconditional

AN: Another tear jerking chapter (in my humble opinion)! Where's all the fluff? I must have been writing this, like, on a week where I didn't get any sugar or caffeine or something. Only one more chapter to go! ::cries:: But I have started writing another story. Already. Please, if anyone as found a cure for rabid plot bunnies (that doesn't involve a labotamy or any kind of lack of anime) please let me know! And no, Sango _does not_ die in this chapter, as many people thought. But we all get to learn how Sango has come to be on her death bed.

Starzki: Why didn't I think of that! And thank you for your lovely comments about Arashi.

Lily Thorne: I felt like crap not giving Sango and Arashi a good relationship, but not everything turns out perfect in life. Miroku and Sango overcame a lot to remain together for twenty-six years of marriage, and they get their kudos. But Arashi and Sango have their redemption in this chapter.

Siren: But nothing bad happened to Shippo!

Iggy04: This is the closest I can come to writing angst.

Ninalee-chan: Thank you very much. ::tear…. Not kidding:: I didn't even know I had it in me to write that chapter. I mean… I have a lot of mother issues, and it seems to be that I've done a good job of expressing both sides of the story, if reviews are to be any indication. It's just… freaky.

Fireblade: If you remember, he's outside letting them have some privacy.

Onyx Rose: Sum, actually, there's this sequel, and then there's a new one I'm working on, and I have to write the complimentary RinSesshy fic for this one too, because they've been absent in both CaU and DW.

Chadrific: You know, I can't believe I'm killing the family line either… I never even realized that before! Ah! What have I done! Damn it, I need more sugar to cheer me up!

Laurika: Arashi? Brazen?

Koda-san: I love how you phrase it! But think about it, that happens in real life too. My parents tried for ten years to have me. My cousin can't have kids because she doesn't have a uterus. No matter how much we improve the living conditions in this world, no matter how much technology we get, it will never make everything perfect. (It's the fault of gremlins, I swear it is.)

Thank you for all the reviews! Enough chit-chat from me! Bring on the Kleenexes and the fic!

Enjoy!

Chapter Fourteen: Regret

Arashi settled down beside Sango, making herself comfortable, her sword stretched across her folded legs and her hands clasped calmly together. Sango took a sip of the water that Arashi had been kind enough to give to her, and she slowly started her story.

"When I was your age, Arashi, I was in the prime of health. It seemed like nothing at all could ever stop me, and had I been logical, I would have known that for such vitality, I would eventually have to pay a cost. The cost came to me after I had forced my body to do something that it did not want me to do: to bear a child."

She looked up at her mother in surprise. Arashi had not known that we had tried for years to have her, that she was the only child we could ever bear together, Sango and I. We never told her of the many times that Sango had come home in tears because Kaede told her she still wasn't pregnant, or that the child was unhealthy. Perhaps, as our daughter, it was her right and her business to know such things, but we never told her. We don't really know why…

"We had many attempts at bringing a child into this world, Arashi, and we did not succeed until we had you, and after you, there could be no more. Miroku and I didn't want to try, in case something should happen and an innocent soul would have to suffer with us. We had the one daughter we had always wanted, and we had Shippo, and we had all our students. That was more than enough for us.

"I began to feel like I was coming down with a flu, after I had you. I never told anybody, mainly because I thought it was nothing. I don't like being fussed over, I don't like being treated like I can't do something, because the moment I start thinking like that, I know that it's true. I have to tell myself I can, but that's hard to do when someone is treating you as if you can't walk to the washroom by yourself, asking of you need to use the washroom or if you feel nauseous every time you move or make a sound.

"Your father, bless his heart, was already worried about me because of how much blood I had lost during the delivery. I lost a lot of blood. Kagome let me eat nothing but liquid-based foods for the next _week_ saying that it would help me make more blood faster. After that week, I don't think I ever wanted to see a soup or stew again. I felt a cold creeping up on me, for the first time in a long time. I didn't say anything though because I was worried that if I did I would have Kagome and Inuyasha coming to check up on me every hour and I would have _another_ week of nothing but broths and stews to eat.

"That winter, because the cold had sat there in my system waiting, I became very ill. I'm always happy, when I look back on it, that I had fevered dreams throughout the entire thing. I was in bed for almost a whole month, and it would have seemed like a year to me; even though I know I worried people so much that it seemed like a year to them, no doubt. I feel guilty about it, in the end, because of what they went through looking after me, and had I put up with another week of broth and rest, I would have been fine. Let that be a lesson to you, Arashi, not to be like your mother.

"If it wasn't for Kagome's tender, loving care, I don't think I would have made it. If she didn't know so much more than I and Miroku, I wouldn't have been able to make it. She made medicines of which Miroku had never heard, and she yelled at herself, arguing with herself over the ethics of it all. Was it right that she went to such extremes to save me, when the results could be so much more drastic than losing just me? I love Kagome, Arashi. She really is like a sister to me, and I am glad that she means so much to you, being both an aunt and a teacher. She was the one who helped to take care of you while I was sick. Your father did too, and so did little Shippo, but it was Kagome who brought milk from the future to keep you well-fed. They didn't want me to feed you in case you became sick through my milk.

"When you were six, when you had finished your first year training to become a priestess, demons attacked the village. They went straight for the shrine, having a liking for the flesh of priestesses. Kagome was gone, but you and Miroku weren't. Shippo, Kirara and I, we felt something was wrong. So did many of the other demon slayers. It was Yugo who pointed out which direction they were in. We all headed to the shrine, but the demons got their first, though Shippo and I were riding on Kirara to get up there.

"Your father knew exactly what to do. When the demons barged in through the roof, the same way Inuyasha had done many years ago, Miroku grabbed you and threw you both out of the way of their charge. You both went tumbling into the altar of the shrine, spilling incense, oil, and flowers everywhere. He was knocked unconscious when his head struck the figure at the back of the altar, but you were not. You lay trapped under his arm, and you stared up at the demons calmly, your father's body still protecting you as the blind demons tried to figure out where the aura of a monk ended, and that of a partially-trained priestess began.

"When we found you, you had a rock in your hand and you were already charging it full of energy, planning on throwing it at the demons to keep them away from your father, thinking they were after him, never imagining that demons could be after you. When I entered the shrine, it was a completely different matter. They had finally figured out that you were hiding under the aura of the monk, and they raised their weapons. Though strong demons, they were really quite unintelligent, planning on using their claws to shred Miroku apart to get to you.

"Shippo launched himself on the demon nearest the door. I have never seen that boy look so much like a real demon than I did at that moment. His eyes were burning, and he felt so much stronger than a demon his age should be. It was because you were in danger, Arashi. Kirara attacked the demon closest to you, and I grabbed you, hauling you away from the demon's claws. They scratched my back. When you saw my face, when you hugged your little arms around me and found that your hands came away bloody, oh, how you bawled! You kept on telling me that you were sorry, as if my getting hurt was all your fault.

"As I was lying in bed, recuperating from wounds that refused to stitch, that's when you began to build up that impressive aura around yourself. You didn't want to ever get hurt again, and you wanted to become strong; it's just that you felt that to do so you had to alienate yourself from me, and from Miroku. But you had such a deeper connection to him that it was always harder for you to break it, and you never really did. Somehow, your father always knew what you were thinking or doing, despite how hard you tried to be independent.

"The wound I received, however, would not stop bleeding. We bandaged it, salved it, made sure it was clean, but it took a longer time than normal for it to even close up, and despite how careful we were with it, infection still set in. I was ill again, though not as bad as I was before, and it hurt to move, but I forced myself to get up and teach, to see you and cook food for you, to play with Shippo and Kirara… I have no regrets about that, none at all.

"And so it went. When I bled, it took longer to heal with each wound I received. I became more and more susceptible to disease and to infection. It got to a point where I went out to lead some of our students to a nearby village where some bat-demons were causing mischief, and Miroku said that he refused to have me go. We got into a very big fight about that one, sneaking off in the middle of the night to go to the well and yell at each other, cry with each other, where neither you nor Shippo could hear us.

"Oh, let me tell you, Arashi, how proud I was when Inuyasha was visiting and would give you a special lesson all by yourself. I would sometimes watch, secretly, and you were always so focused on winning, on being better than you had last been, just on learning, that I was proud of you."

Arashi blushed, recalling the fights she had had with Uncle Inuyasha out in the woods. She found him so aggravating at times, as he taunted her, that she would attack ruthlessly out of frustration. This is, of course, when Inuyasha would have had to actually start using some skill to defend himself against her onslaught, but she always lost, and soon she learned never to become enraged in battle.

She also learned that anger was something Inuyasha couldn't control either, and she used his own teachings against him, quite effectively. Over time, she became more concentrated on simply manipulating people in battle, in using her mind and sharp eye to find openings… or make them. Her body took over what she had learned, and, as she acted without thinking, her movements began to flow together, until it looked as if she had been holding a sword since she had been four years old.

She had started when she was seven.

But until she had become that good, getting taught by Inuyasha had quite often been hell. She remembered getting soft punches in the kidneys or even the cheek until she had learned to watch both of her opponent's arms. She remembered sliding in the mud, blinded by the pouring rain, and getting pushed into the ground, getting mocked until she stood back up and assumed attack position. She didn't know what bothered her more: the fact that her mother had seen her embarrassing moments as she fought Inuyasha and "died", or that she had known how rough he had been with her and had never done anything about it.

Yet there had also been kind words. I had assured my daughter that Inuyasha had learned to be both kind and cold from Kagome. His outside appearance of the cold taught his students about the cruelty of nature and potential enemies, and his kind words after the lesson as a reminder that even enemies have a kind streak, and that he was their tutor and friend, their ally. Many times had Arashi ended up with bruises as large as her hand, cuts as wide as her pinky finger and twice as long, and Inuyasha had always been there for her, salving on healing potions or bandaging her cuts for her and tell her how well she had done, how much she had improved, and always hinting at something to improve on for next time.

"He told me how you never cried."

Our daughter looked at Sango in surprise, and found Sango's brown eyes filled with respect. What scared her was that under that, there even seemed to be a sense of underlying awe. Sango saw in her daughter all the things I saw in her; she didn't realize that to others, she seemed just as strong and otherworldly.

"He told me that no mater how hard he worked you, or how many times you lost, that you never once cried. Others would have. He said that in Kagome's time, he had seen men go through less than you and break down into tears. I certainly can't imagine training as hard as you and never shedding a tear. I know that there were times when I worked myself so hard, when I was in training, trying to be better than all the boys and all the other girls all because I was the chief's daughter, that it was impossible for me to not cry. And then, there was that time when you broke your arm… and had to fight him with your left hand instead of your right…" Sango burst into a fit of little laughs. "Oh! I wish I could have seen his expression when you managed to beat him left handed, all because you took advantage of his surprise and disarmed him…"

Arashi felt herself start to smile when she heard her mother laugh. "It wasn't all that impressive, really. He looked very much like a fish."

Sango's face softened, and she held her daughter's hand, which Arashi allowed her to hold. "You see? I've seen much more than you know. Just because I wasn't there didn't mean that I wasn't coming in at the middle of the night to check on you, tuck you in, put you back in bed as you rolled out, or just whispered that I loved you and hoped that you had inherited your father's knack for hearing those things I said from far away."

Her face felt wet. Arashi realized that her eyes were leaking. She was crying. Sango immediately leaned closer, wincing as her stomach shoved white hot embers into the back of her eyes from the sudden movement. "Oh no, Arashi! Don't cry! Hush now, don't you start crying. If I was the one who made you always cry, I'd hate myself for it. Please, don't start crying."

Arashi's face was red from anger, and she couldn't stop crying. "How dare you tell me all this now! If you had told me all of this even a week ago, so that I could have laughed with you instead of crying, it would have been better! How can you tell me this when you might not even make it through the night! I hope that you do hate yourself for making me cry; how can you tell me all this just when you're going to give up and leave me like this? You're so selfish! You've always been selfish!"

The words cut Sango deeply. She showed it, too. Though she told herself that they were just word—words said out of anger and they didn't mean anything—Sango couldn't heal the wounds inflicted by her daughter's words.

"I know," she admitted. "I'm a terribly selfish person. If I didn't like feeling weak, if I didn't like being chained at home instead of fighting… but Arashi, these are the things that made me who I am. They are the things that make me a demon slayer, and a mother, the woman that your father loves… if I change them, if I had ever allowed myself to be bedridden, to stay at home and let Miroku do the fighting while I tried to learn how to cook, I would have stopped being myself. I can't stop being who I am, Arashi. I know you're young, but that's a lesson that you know well. I can't stop being a demon slayer just as it's impossible for you to stop being a priestess. It's who we are."

"But why _now_? Why are you telling me all this _now_?"

She felt the tears slip from her eyes, and she squeezed her daughter's hand. "Because it's the only time I have left, Arashi. It's the last chance I have to tell you that I love you, that I'm proud of you, and that you mean everything to me. You, Miroku, Shippo… my _family_. My family means everything to me, and no matter how hard you try to grow up, how strong you become, I am still your mother, and I will always be there to help protect you."

This time the silence was golden as Arashi's shoulders shook with sobs. She flung herself at Sango, burying her face in her mother's chest and holding on to her as tightly as she could. Sango was taken by surprise, but soon she held Arashi back as tightly as she could, her arms still strong despite her age and her sickness. She kissed Arashi's dark hair, brushed it soothingly, and did everything she could to try and comfort her daughter.

"I love you, Arashi. I love you so much. I don't want to leave you; I don't want to leave any of you!" Her lips shook with tears. Her dark hair fell from around her shoulders, wrapping around them, and long lost memories wracked Arashi's mind, remembering being held against her mother and wrapping her fingers in Sango's hair, remembering learning to crawl and getting lost in Sango's long hair as Sango knelt above her, ready to catch her if she fell. She remembered brushing the long hair that lay on the bed in a tight braid whenever Sango cut it, whenever battle caused her to cut it.

She breathed in deeply, remembering the scent of the soap Sango used, remembering how much of a fight she put up with her mother when she tried to wriggle out of baths, wanting instead to be covered in dirt. She remembered how Sango never lost her temper. She remembered the soap gently rubbing against the cuts she got in fights, how gentle the fingers were as they bandaged her wounds, and how Sango never seemed to disapprove of her fighting with the older boys and girls of the village.

She remembered the feeling of smooth muscle beneath her fingertips, and watching Sango from the basket she had been carried around in, watching Sango go through exercises and routines, keeping her body trim and fit, and Arashi couldn't wait until she could do them too.

She remembered warmth, remembered that love could have a scent and a touch.

"Don't leave me, Mommy!"

They were shocked; shocked at the words that came clearly from Arashi's mouth, shocked at the emotion that was in them. Arashi had experienced death before, but never had it caused her so much pain. She would grab her sword and battle the God of Death over her mother's soul in a heartbeat, if only he would come to her in a form she could fight.

"God, I'm _so_ sorry! I don't want you to go! I'll do whatever I can, Momma, whatever I can, just don't leave me! I take it all back! You've never left me; you've always been right there for me! Always! What am I going to do without you there for me? I just… you never _said_ anything to me! You never told me that I do a good job; you never told me that you loved me to my face, you never told me that I made you proud! Why? I just… you can't leave me! I'm not ready! Not yet!"

Sango hugged her daughter even tighter. "Yes, you are, Arashi. You're only sixteen, I know, but you are more than ready. You're smart, you're strong, and you are positively perfect. Besides, you won't really be alone. You'll never be alone. There are too many people here who love you. And I told you: I will never leave you. Understand? I will never, _ever_ leave you." Her voice was fierce, her grip so tight that Arashi found it hard to think that her mother was dying.

"Everyone dies. But I do have one regret, one thing I have to apologize for you. I'm sorry that I didn't tell you enough times that I loved you, Arashi. I am sorry. That. That is my one regret. Don't be like me, Arashi, be yourself. That will make me and your father, everyone, most proud. Don't be like me; don't regret."

Arashi nodded. "And I'll take care of Shippo too, and watch Miroku with the students. I'll take care of everyone, Mother."

"Don't overtire yourself, Arashi," Sango warned with a smile.

"I'm not. Keeping people safe is my responsibility." Arashi went to move, but Sango held her fast.

"Please," Sango begged quietly, "Don't go yet. If you can spare yourself the time, let me hold you for a little while longer. I haven't been able to hold you like this since you were seven."

Eventually, Sango fell asleep, and Arashi was still holding her mother. Arashi was still wide awake, trying to remember everything about that moment, and hold fast to it, so that her mother would always seem closer. When her mother was asleep, and Arashi was sure she wasn't pretending, Arashi told her mother the one thing she regretted never being able to say to her mother, in case she had appeared weak in her mother's eyes.

"I love you too… Mommy."


	15. Requiem

Complete and Unconditional

AN: And so, my friends, we've reached the end of another story. Thanks to your wonderful reviews, this story has given me a lot of uplifting moments despite the sad contents, and I'm currently bragging to my anime-friends that it got over 200 reviews. ::grins proudly:: You've all been so nice to me as I dabbled with Mir/San… _please_ don't ruin it by flaming me at the end of the story! ::bawls:: You know I like my plot twists! I can't help it! Besides, that's what sequels are for! Sequels!!

With my begging being over… ::dries eyes:: On to answer some reviews!

Iggy: Really, the whole Arashi/Sango moment was in chapter thirteen, you're right, but I wanted to find a way for Sango to explain how she is dying rather than a bunch of flashbacks, and I wanted Arashi to call Sango 'Mommy' at least once. I wanted to give Sango that much. And this was my experiment in angst. Really, the story started off high, and fluffy, and deteriorated as time went by. Thank god the sequel is fluffy and cute!

Fireblade: Actually, for the past two stories, Sesshy has disappeared. And he will in the next one too. There's a reason for it. Eventually I will determine what it is.

Lily: Um…. ::looks around innocently:: Here's some Kleenex. And no, I don't like making people cry. That's why I like writing fluff. It's happy. I like making people giggle and hyperactive and feel fuzzy-warm inside. But in this case, the story was more important that how I wanted to make people feel. I wanted to try my best to make a "realistic" Mir/San fic regarding their life. I think relationship/character wise, I accomplished that, but my lack of living in Japan, my lack of Sengoku Jidai related knowledge, and my urge to write rather than research meant I sacrificed a lot culturally and historically. But at this point, I think it was a worthy sacrifice.

Snow-Queen: Oh, I think you could tell us apart. Mine would be fluffy. Hers would be more comedic and leave you frustrated and wanting to march into her world and tie her characters together with duck tape until they admit their feelings. But thank you for the lovely compliment.

Starzki: Yes, you're right. And I'm glad that you feel that way about the series. Though if they gave Inuyasha over to me, the series wouldn't go on long enough for producers to make money because I'd have them in love in no time whatsoever… Or something!

Aamalie: ::looks guilty:: Um…. Look! A mermaid! ::runs away::

Chadrific: If that's how you feel about stories that make you cry, then I'm glad. I feel like crap when I cry, and so despite how great the movie or story, I have a tendency to steer clear from it.

Ninalee-chan: Thank you very much! I'm afraid that, in my opinion, Sango's character undergoes a definitive change, but… well, it's understandable, as you will see. I don't want to ruin anything. I completely agree with your idea of Miroku and Sango completing each other. It seems to be a theme. It appears in this chapter, and quite a few times in the sequel. However, I feel a need to work on Arashi's character a lot. I'll have to put it on my list of things to do!

Thank you all once again for all of your great responses and remarks! ::stupidly happy smile:: They keep me warm for all of the cold Canadian winters!

Enjoy, everyone!

Chapter 15: Requiem

"Miroku?"

I awoke with a start, hitting my head on the wall behind me. Cursing lightly, I rubbed my tired eyes. They slowly adjusted to the darkness, though fine details, like the corners of the windows or Sango's long eyelashes, were blurry to my old eyes. Moonlight poured through the windows in front of Sango, highlighting her features. She looked so alive, so like the girl that used to sit out on rocks and pray or think, that for a moment I thought I was looking at a ghost. My voice was hoarse, but audible as we were alone in the room. "Yes?" I asked tentatively.

"I think I would like to go outside, if you wouldn't mind. It's such a nice, warm night, that I'd like to enjoy it with you."

Nodding, I walked to her and helped her up. Her body was far too light from a sickness she could not keep fighting. I escorted her outside, her body cold against mine, though she looked healthier than she had that morning. Maybe the talk with Arashi had done her well. She was breathing steadily, she didn't seem to be in as much pain. I knew better, however, than to imagine these were the sign of some miraculous recovery. Sango was pushing past the pain. She was trying to be herself, allowing me to remember her at her best, rather than face death while she was laying in bed and feeling weak.

We walked out to the well. By the time we had gotten there, she was breathing heavily. Sango sat down on the ground and collapsed. She smiled up at the sky and inhaled deeply.

"I love the smell of fresh air!" Sango exclaimed. I sat down beside her and she shifted to put her head in my lap. "Thank you, Miroku."

"It was my pleasure," I sighed, starting to run my fingers through her graying hair. I was kind of tired from helping Sango outside, but there was no way that I was going to take a brief nap when we both knew and accepted that this was it; there would be no more painful hours of waiting, no more choking on tears, no more hurried glances that allowed me to make sure that she was still breathing while Sango prepared herself to throw a shoe at me as soon as she saw I was worried. "I enjoy being outside as well, after all. It brings back memories, doesn't it? Camping outside, setting up camp, our first midnight picnic… remember skinny dipping?"

Sango laughed. "If you enjoyed being outside so much or camping under the stars, then why did you stop at so many houses and tell them about 'foreboding auras' and 'dire needs to exorcise'?" I only chuckled at her accusations. Sango hugged my leg tighter. "You know, somehow I never expected to be laying in this hill with you under the stars… dying. I always expected to die in the heat of battle."

Silent, I just kept stroking her long hair. I didn't want to discuss how we had always imagined ourselves dying. I had only ever thought of the wind-tunnel claiming my life. I had been painfully aware of it. After the wind-tunnel had disappeared, however, I had given no thought to my own mortality. As for Sango, besides my fears about taking her into the kazaana if I ever lost control of it, I had never thought about her dying. If I ever did, I tried very hard to think about something else. It was perverse, thinking of how your loved ones might die. Thus, Sango had become immortal in my eyes; harm could come to her, but she would always overcome it, and no _death_ would _ever_ claim my wife.

What was I going to do without her? She was my haven, my whole world. It was like the Earth and the air; one couldn't exist without the other to the point where if one stopped existing, all life would die. If I had a problem, I saw Sango; if I needed reassurance, help with a student, a fight, a taste tester, someone to dress my wounds, I saw Sango.

She wasn't just my wife, she was my comrade in arms. Not a simple partner, a _comrade_ in arms. Someone to watch my back, pick me up when I needed it, clean my wounds…

_She was everything to me!_

How could I live? How could I go to each class when the students I would teach used to be hers, when I was living her dream? How could I go home when she wasn't going to be coming home after me, jumping on me and biting my ear in greeting and asking what we were having for dinner?

I couldn't. I couldn't do that. The God of Death was going to come for her soul, take the part of mine that I had given her, and take the part that she had given to me.

No more smiles that I had worked so hard to see, no more laughter I would gladly make an ass out of myself to hear.

"You'll be fine."

Snapping from my onslaught of horrifying glimpses of the future, my gaze jumped from a seemingly empty sky to look at my wife. She was gazing up at me with a considerate expression, as if she knew what I was fearing and she sympathized with me. She moved slowly, making sure that I heard each and every single word. "You, Miroku, will be fine."

Something within me broke. I reached down and grabbed her, holding her heart against mine, pressing her to me as tightly as I could. I sobbed suddenly, closing my eyes to the stars and a comforting light I didn't want to see at that moment. "_How_?"

"That's up to you to decide, Miroku." She reached up and she touched my cheek. Her fingers were cool. "But you _will_ be fine. You're never going to be alone again, Miroku, never!"

Agreeing, I nodded. "I know. I have Arashi, Shippo, Kissaki, your brother, our students… I just don't have _you_. Sango. I'll keep going, I promise you I will, for the people I love I'll keep going, but how can I do that when I won't have you?"

"Do you know what I told Arashi?" she asked me. I nodded again, and she dried my cheeks for me. "You rogue, you were listening at the key-hole again, weren't you? Twenty-six years of marriage and you still haven't learned any manners at all. You're still a pervert, still a cheat and a liar and completely and utterly irresistible." She giggled into my neck. "The same thing I said to Arashi goes for you too, Houshi-sama."

Wincing, I tried to remember when I had last heard her call me by that name. It was so long ago I couldn't actually remember it. "I know; you're always going to be with me, Sango."

"Yup. It's because you might be stupid. Houshi-sama, but you're still _my_ Houshi-sama. My Miroku." Finally, she sighed and admitted what I had longed to hear from her for some sadistic reason. "I don't want to leave you, Miroku. I'll still be watching out for you, but I won't be able to touch you, hold you, kiss you… But I'm glad I'm leaving behind _you_, Miroku, to take care of all our children."

"Please don't watch over me," I joked. "I don't want you to see all the beautiful girls I'm going to…" Her hands tightened around my waist. She said my name warningly. She was so close to death but still so strong and persuasive!

"Sorry! I was just joking. I only wanted to lighten the situation… I didn't do a good job of it. I'm sorry. I just… I want to see you smile at me, Sango. Just one more smile. I want to make sure that you're really happy when… when you… pass on. I want to make sure I made you happy all the way to the end!"

Sango lifted her face from my shoulder. She brushed my grey-streaked hair from my slowly failing eyes, her brown ones level with mine, and scared. The thought of Sango being scared of leaving me, scared of death, made my skin erupt in gooseflesh. "You _have_ made me happy, Miroku. If you want, please, tell me a bedtime story, the kind you would tell Arashi and Shippo when you put them to bed. They always went to sleep smiling if you told them a story. I can't think of a better way to spend my time with you, like this, then to be able to hear your voice and listen and feel it as you hold me and I fall asleep smiling, just like our children."

I laughed a little, and I shifted her in my arms. Her head lay over my heart, her legs mingling with mine, and I reclined on the hill. The night air was cool against the worn fabric of my robe. I don't know, that night, why I chose to wear my old robes. I suppose they gave me a feeling of youthfulness and of comfort. A _monk_ could deal with death, a _monk_ could deal with losing a loved one, a _monk_ could deal with mourning.

A man, even a demon slayer, couldn't.

"Allow me to tell you a story!" I exclaimed, settling down, enjoying my duty. I enjoyed coming up with stories. "This one starts many, many years in the future. There, there was a young girl who was very pretty, but she had very bad dreams. This girl, you see, was a reincarnation of a girl who lived very, very long ago. She was so distracted, thinking about the strapping young monk in her dreams that she got herself into a spot of trouble."

"Oh?" Sango sounded amused. "What exactly happened to her?"

"Hm… she fell into a river. A very deep, fast moving river." I grinned, recalling the fight with the false water god and the first move I had ever made on Sango, planning on breathing for her. "As she cried for help, swallowing water in great gulps and choking, a young man who was very handsome and highly intelligent, heard her cries. He bravely threw himself into the river. He swam against the current, and grabbed the half-drowned woman, drawing her to safety.

"Drawing her up on the shore of the river, he pressed his lips to hers, giving her the sweet breath of life. She coughed up the water in her lungs and stared at the young man who had saved her. She was awe-struck, her heart pounding in her chest. She was in love and he…"

Sango cut me off. "You know, I would never be so stupid as to fall into a river, even if I _was_ thinking about you."

"It's my story! If you don't like it, you can write your own story."

Giggling at my cute face, Sango forced herself to agree with my pathetic excuse. "I suppose I can let you get away with that. Okay, so my future self gets into 'a spot of trouble' as you say, and the love of my life, of both past and future, will save me and I will fall in love all over again. Then what?"

"Well, then we proceed to make amazing, mind-blowing love right there on the beach."

"We're on a beach now? I thought we were on the banks of a river! And just because I was married to you for twenty-six years in this life doesn't mean that I'm going to jump in your pants as soon as I meet you in your next life!" Sango complained with a smile on her face. I think she was trying to infuriate me for her own amusement. "I'm not a pervert, Miroku. What do you take me for? A slut who will have sex with whatever man I tumble across?"

"Okay, fine. She doesn't have sex with the handsome, kind man who just risked his life to save hers. First, they fight for a whole day and a whole night about whether or not the girl was really able to have saved herself, or if she needed rescuing." Sango laughed out loud, and I rejoiced in the sound. I knew she'd like that part. "Okay then, after they fight for a whole day and a whole night, they profess their undying love for each other and _that's_ when they have mind-blowing, passionate sex! The best sex ever, in the history of the whole world!"

"Are they still on a beach?"

I rubbed my chin. "That's a good question. I don't know if they are still on a beach. No, I think we'll put them in a bed. Yes, they went to the boy's house because they were hungry, and he was a good cook? Did I say 'boy'? I meant to say 'man'!"

We were silent. Sango rubbed my _kesa_ between her fingers. "Do you think that we really will be able to find each other in the next life, Miroku? I mean, we won't have any memories of this life, will we? How will we recognize each other? Besides looking different, we'll be two different people. We'll be leading two different lives, and because of such, we will be different people. It's not like I can go to every shrine or temple I see and ask if they have a lecherous monk, because you might not be a lecherous monk in the next life. You might not even be a _man_ in the next life, Miroku! Maybe you'll be a girl!"

I kissed her hair gently and snickered a little, imagining my head on the body of a voluptuous girl. Okay, the image was jejune, but it was a comfort on a frightening night. I touched Sango's chest, cupping a breast in my hand. "Imagine, having a pair of these of my own…"

"Miroku!" She slapped my hand away from her chest, laughing. I felt my face fill with love for her. This time, when I closed my eyes, it was not out of hatred for the calming celestial lights, but to listen closely to her laughter, memorizing the sound in my mind so that I could replay it and cherish it on the cold nights I knew would come in the years ahead.

She breathed in deeply. "I love the way you smell, Miroku. I love your voice, and your stories. Thank you, Miroku. Thank you for loving me. Honestly, sometimes I thought you were too good for me. Hm, I know, it sounds weird, me not feeling good enough for you, what with you being a pervert and all, but it's true. No mater how other people may see you, Miroku, you've always seemed perfect to me."

I looked down at her. I could barely see her face in the darkness, her eyes shining with tears. My voice caught in my throat. How could I tell her that I had always felt the other way around, that she was too good for a man such as myself when she had said it with such simple sincerity that no eloquence could match it? "I… I did?" She nodded, turning towards me a bit more as the tears slipped over her blushing cheeks. "But… why?"

"Because you've always been nice to me, and to the people I've cared about. My friends, our students, our family… You gave me everything I wanted, you were everything I needed, you protected me and everything I loved. I suppose that because I loved you, I only saw the good things, the bad were inconsequential, and now I find myself asking, 'What bad?' You never lied to me, never cheated, never failed to be a good role model or a teacher…"

"But… we fought…"

"Everyone fights. Fighting is just bad communication, as Kagome once yelled at Inuyasha when he was having one of his brooding moments." Sango shrugged a little, playing with my robes still. "Kagome said once, that a man in the future said something along the lines of 'never say a man is happy until his death'. Looking at my death now, I can say it. I was, am, and will be happy. The reason for it is because I shared my life with my friends and family, and you were both… Miroku."

I dried her cheeks for her, kissing her with all the love I could.

We kissed for a long time; over the days and years, I had only grown to love Sango more.

"Do you believe, Miroku, that there is only one person for everyone?"

"Absolutely, Sango," I purred, cradling her in my arms. "You see, I knew a young man who had his eyes on many women, and then he met one girl who seemed on the surface to be entirely the wrong person for him. She rejected his advances, chastised him, got jealous easily… But they lived happily ever after. Oh sure, they had their share of troubles, all of them hard and leaving behind scars, but they were able to overcome those hard times because they had each other. They were attracted to each other's similarities _and_ differences. Over time, they became so close they seemed intertwined and unless one knew these two before they wedded, it would be impossible to tell where one ended and the other began.

"As a result, they will always be inseparable, and one day, I will find you again to get back that piece of myself, Sango, only to find that you are the best one to hold it." I gazed down at her, finding her asleep. I kissed her cheeks, and she did not wake. "I love you, Sango."

The sunrise that morning was filled with hope, filled with beautiful colors, like flower orange, deep violet, and my favorite, coral pink.

* * *

Sango didn't get to see it.

Arashi wiped clean a bit of blood from her sword; from Sango's old sword. I can still remember giving it to Arashi after Sango had died a year and a half ago, still remember the way her eyes filled with respect and she clutched the sword in her hand. She had taken excellent care of it, keeping the blade so sharp she could slice a leaf floating on the breeze.

The breeze…

We were walking back from the demon slayer village. It was Kari's third child, and she had specifically asked for Arashi, not just because my daughter was getting a reputation as being one of the best healers around, but because Arashi was Sango's daughter, and Sango had been like a mother to her. If her mother couldn't be there, than the girl that Kari had helped to raise should be, she had said.

I was there as an escort to my daughter. The roads were becoming more and more dangerous, but perhaps it was my age that made me look fondly on the past and remember those times as being better than the present. We had been attacked by demons, but Arashi pressed on. She wanted to make it back before dark, and so we continued.

Sheathing her sword, her hands moved quickly as she spoke. "Oh, Daddy, you wouldn't have believed it…"

Arashi stopped, lifting her eyes from the road to the forest around us. Her eyes flashed, steeling over. I stopped as well, closing my tired eyes to the sounds she was hearing, to the auras she must be sensing. More demons?

"Human auras," I said, gripping my staff. I was tired from fighting the last battle, though it had been no more than simple weasel demons, once an easy kill for me, and the weasel demon had already been weakened, probably by another monk.

Yes, I wore my monk robes all the time after Sango died. I think, deep down, that some part of me still had not accepted that she was gone. My demon slayer armor was hidden under my robes. I leaned heavily on my staff. It was not my _shakujo_, but a heavy wooden staff capable of bearing much more of my weight than my normal staff. We waited to see if they were friends or foes, Arashi slipping behind me slightly and gripping her sword handle, ready to leap out and take them by surprise if they were attackers. Being a priestess and a girl, they would not expect her to be so adept with a sword.

Men emerged from the dense forest around us. They were armed and scarred, with unhealed sores which oozed puss and blood, and their fingers caked with dirt. Their armor was ill-kept, and chipped, no doubt ripped off from the men that they had killed, their weapons rusty but still sharp. They stared at us a moment, and we them, and then someone said "It's just a priestess and some old monk. We won't get anything of value from them."

The largest men there knocked the speaker on the head. "Maybe not, ya idiot, but she's got a pretty little sword, that one. Think she can use it?"

My daughter only grinned. I wish she would keep her mouth shut, and she did. But her body didn't. Sensing the coming fight, she sank her feet into the ground, tightening her fingers around the hilt of her sword.

"Boss!" another man said, elbowing the second speaker. He whispered in his ear, but Arashi and I could catch a few of the words, and the lust in his eyes made it obvious of what he was thinking.

Disgusted, Arashi rolled her eyes. "Bandits. I hate bandits."

I lifted my staff, holding it in both hands. "Remember, they're humans. Try to avoid killing blows, love."

"Get them!"

The order was simple and quick. The men rushed us. I turned my back to Arashi, trying to keep us both from getting surrounded and flanked by the swarming men, but we were soon driven apart. I was overly wary. My staff was heavier and thicker than my _shakujo_. Though better for walking, it was harder for me to fight with. If one of those axes or maces broke my staff, I would be unarmed, and in a fight such as this one, it was a very bad thing.

The familiar sound of Sango's blade meeting blade filled the air. Arashi was as good as Inuyasha; I needed to take care of myself. Blocking a low strike, I felt some of my muscles tear, but I didn't feel any pain. I blocked another strike calmly and slipped up my staff, butting the attacker with the pommel of my weapon. He crumpled to the ground and more took his place.

Time began to mean nothing. I blocked and attacked like an automaton. The wind rustled around me, leaves kicking up at my feet. I felt stronger than I ever had in my life, especially when the wind touched me. The wind always reminded me of Sango; her breath on my neck, my name on her lips, even the way she had held my hand that contained the kazaana.

But in the end, the sound of a female scream made me stop. It made everyone stop. The leader held my daughter, his dirty fingers laced in her black hair and fingernails digging into her scalp. His rusty dagger pressed against her pale neck, and Arashi's hands clasped his wrists, trying to pull him away. Her white shirt blossomed with blood on her shoulder. The wound had caused her to drop her sword, which was now held by another bandit.

"Drop your weapon."

Staring at my daughter, I dropped my staff on the ground. It landed in the dirt with an intense thud, kicking up a bit of dirt. Arashi's eyes opened when she heard the sound, and her grey eyes filled with fear not for herself, but for me.

This was the one fear that Sango had never been able to alleviate. Helplessness. We both had a problem with it, Sango and I. She didn't like being incapacitated, and I didn't like it either when it came to battle. I hadn't been bred to fight, and I had relied on the kazaana too often. Without it, in battle, ironically, I felt weak.

I knew Sango's moves. I could have fought beside her blind, just by the way her aura moved in battle as it brushed my mind. When I was younger, if it had come to this scenario, I would have unleashed the wind tunnel and sucked up everyone. But Sango and I, surely, would have never come across such a scenario. If she had, if we had contended with this before, I might have been able to deal with the sudden sense of helplessness that put me in control of the leader's words, that froze my body and made my mind scream for the wind-tunnel, beg and plead to have it back just for this one moment, just so that I could help Arashi.

Had it reopened, I would have sucked in all of those fucking bastards for even _looking_ at my daughter!

The wind began to pick up. I remembered once someone asking me if Sango was going to transform into a demon when she was very pissed. She was strong enough for someone to mistake her aura for that of a furious demon's. For a moment I felt that anger, I felt that power rising like a wind around me as if by thought and will alone. I could _make_ the wind tunnel reappear and swallow the souls of all these men!

"What should I do with the monk?"

The leader looked at me, at my shabby clothes, the graying hair, and the furious eyes. Though dirty, he was smart, and knew just how to hurt both of us. "Hmph. Kill him."

The wind stopped.

The beating of my heart, so loud in my ears, stopped.

The ground rushed up at me, and I watched the bloody sword protruding from chest disappear from my heart and lungs. I landed in the dirt with a thud, just like my staff had a moment ago.

I felt warmth on my chest. I vaguely heard my breathing become raspier.

And I heard Arashi screaming.

* * *

I screamed.

Gripping the collar of the man holding me still, I pulled him over my shoulder with a strength I couldn't muster before. I pulled him over my shoulder, twisting his dagger out of his grasp. I flung him on the ground and dove the dagger across his neck, spraying blood into the still air before I whirled on the other men still standing.

And I showed them just what Inuyasha had taught me, how strong I was, how like my mother.

They screamed. Oh, how they screamed.

Those bastards had taken my father.

I was the only one who left that path alive. When I got to Daddy, he was already dead, but his body was still warm. I held him, and I grieved. I cried until I couldn't utter a single sound, my throat torn from sobs and curses no priestess should know. I held him so close! And like him, I could do nothing. I could do nothing to save him.

But then, the winds stirred the trees. It kissed my cheeks and brushed my hair. My sense of calm, my power, my aura, my mask, covered me again. I became impenetrable.

Though covered with blood, I didn't leave until I had buried my father.

* * *

Shippo greeted me at the temple when I returned home. His juvenile voice was happy, until he saw that I was alone, and he saw the blood that covered my hands, my feet, that drenched my shirt and splattered my face, matting together my hair.

"Arashi!" he cried, scampering after me as I brushed by him. "Arashi! What happened? Whose blood is that? Are you hurt?" And then, finally, the question that I knew would break his little heart. "Where's Miroku?"

"I need to cleanse myself," I said wearily, undoing the bonds of my shirt. I felt disgusted with myself. The blood crawled on my skin like a giant disease, trying to find a way to filter into my body. I needed to cleanse myself lest I become infected. "Their dirty blood… I need to cleanse myself. And their screams… I killed them, those bastards, and even from beyond the grave, they mock me!"

His green eyes filled up with nervousness, his tail moving so quickly it was positively vibrating. I dropped my shirt on the ground, heading to the sacred pond in the back of the shrine where I could purify myself. Shippo gripped the bloody shirt in his little hands. "Arashi! What happened to him!?"

Silence; then, abruptly…

"Dead."

It took a moment for things to sit in for Shippo. I couldn't stand to look at him, but he slowly moved forward, dragging my shirt in the grass and wrapping his arms around my legs. I continued talking, because somehow talking made it hurt less. "We were attacked by bandits. They killed him. And I… I went insane, Shippo. Their screams… I took pleasure in their screams. I took pleasure in their pain, in making them hurt as much as I did when I saw them stab him. No one made it out of their alive, except for me, and that's only in a manner of speaking.

"Mother and Father had always told me 'be careful with the humans. They have families, they have loved ones, like you do. Try and reason with them, scare them off, they're really just cowards. Never kill humans. Demons think less of us, but try to reason with them if you can. Kill the demons, never think twice about doing that, because to them, we're prey, but to other humans, we are equals.' I had only ever killed demons until today. Now… there were ten of them. I killed them all. Ten men, Shippo! And they laugh at me from beyond the grave because I stained myself with their blood, and I will never be the same again."

Shippo felt worse than I did. I had had some time to grieve. Shippo was suddenly, and very painfully aware of his predicament. He had known it was coming, he knew that one day Miroku would die, but he had always expected it to take more than a year and a half. Father had been strong after all, though his muscles hurt more and he was having trouble reading, he was still sharp minded and strong. Shippo was going to watch the people he loved grow old and die, and somehow, it had been easier to tell himself he could deal with it than it was to actually accept the people he though of as mother and father being dead, and that he would never see them again.

He shuddered. I couldn't face my brother as I heard him start to cry. I couldn't comfort him. I was ruined, I was disgraced for having killed those men. Besides, how was I supposed to comfort something as big as this? But Sango and Miroku would have done it. They would have found some way to comfort him.

Shippo looked up at me, and I helplessly shook my head. His bottom lip shook, and he tried his best to hold back his tears. Ashamed to cry in front of me, and furious with himself that he was suddenly looking up to me for help instead of offering it to me, he ran. I don't know where he ran to, not at first, because at first I went and I bathed. I soaked in the tub for as long as I could stand. When I came out, my fingers were not only wrinkled but had the slightest tinges of blue, my nose was pink and I was sniffling. But the blood was all gone. I was once again purified.

Then I tried to find Shippo. I found him at the well. He always seemed to go to the well or to the tree whenever he had a problem. He was curled up inside the well. It amazed me that he was able to climb in and out of the old thing. Personally, I don't think I could have done it. I sat on the edge of the well and called out softly for him to come up and join me.

When he reached the top, he looked up at me, and he frowned. "You don't look like you're in mourning at all," he said, and it was true. I looked like I normally did. My gaze was even and level, and I sat straight and tall, an impressive force that took others by surprise. But inside I felt hollow, so very hollow!

"Shippo, the time has come to make changes. Father and Mother are dead. I… I need to do things, and you have to see that I'm right in doing them. The well will not continue to remain open. The others… Kaede-chan, Uncle Inuyasha and Aunt Kagome, they can't continue to come here anymore. The timeline must be straightened out. It saddens me that I'm the one to have to do this… Listen to me, Shippo, listen to me carefully."

I told him my plan. At first he hated it, but then he started to realize that I was right. It was a paradox. For Kagome's timeline to work out, I needed to do this. It was fate that I should make these decisions, and she laughed at me that I had to take the rest of Shippo's family from him.

We mourned together that day. The entire day we sat alone in the shrine, praying and crying, and by night we were exhausted, but we felt better. Shippo refused to leave my side, and I loved him for it. I loved having him there, on my shoulder. The following night, we went to the well, and Kirara even followed us, trotting beside us. She had left her post with the demon slayers and had decided that we needed her comfort more that evening.

Shippo held the demon cat tightly as I worked my magic. By dawn's first light, I was exhausted, and I carried a sleeping Shippo ad Kirara back to the village. The illusion was complete. The timeline would be fixed now. I had sealed the well, both physically and spiritually. Kagome and Inuyasha would not be able to come back.

I hoped.

That was what the plan was. Whenever Kagome came back to the well, she came back the same number as years and days as she always did. Confusing? Kagome's well wasn't a link back into just one day in the past. It was a link back a certain number of years and days, it seemed, so that as time passed in her world, it also passed in ours, always on the same steady flow. In Kagome's past, in _my_ future, someone had sealed the well with a lid to keep anyone from falling into it, and to keep anyone from the future from coming through time.

A little under five hundred years, Kagome Higurashi would break that shield as a sixteen year old girl, and Mistress Centipede would break the physical barrier, drawing her back five hundred years into the past. But if Kagome Higurashi, the wife of a demon and the priestess in the Higurashi shrine, were to try coming back, she would not be able to because the spell exists in my time, unlike in the days of Kaede and Naraku, because she hasn't broken it yet. She _will_ break it, all those centuries from now.

I hope.

I didn't want them to cross over anymore. Kagome would continue being in her time, and hopefully my parents would be reincarnated there. Shippo would continue being here, and I would put him in charge of the shrine after I left. It needed a permanent guardian, someone to take care of it until the next priestess was trained. Shippo would fail once or twice in his duties, I knew this, and it would be him who would move the shrine further into the woods, where it could have some safety, and build the new shrine up around Inuyasha's tree and the well there.

And in the end, Shippo would grow up, and find them again in the future sometime. I would fade into remembrance. My parents would find each other in the future, and who knows? Maybe I would be reincarnated too and I would have the joy of seeing them again. But Shippo, Shippo was the key. He would guide everything so that everything would be perfect, and everything would happen exactly as it had. He would guard the shrine, rebuild it when it would burn down, protect the village, guide the demon slayers…

I loved my brother so much, it pained me to put such a weight on him, but I felt it was a necessity.

He stirred in my arms and I smiled at him as the wind gently drifted by us. "Shippo? Do you hear that? It's the wind. It's _their_ wind. Every time you feel that wind, it's Mother and Father telling you that they love you, it's them giving you strength and guidance… Every time you feel that wind, Shippo-chan, think of them."

"I will," he promised me, slowly falling asleep again.

Everything was too perfect. I should have realized that something was wrong.

The next morning, I woke up and found my cousin in the shrine, praying. She looked at me when I walked in, smiling her cheerful, Kagome-like smile. The Tetsusaiga was laying beside her. I stared in shock. "Ka… Kaede! When did you get here!"

"Yesterday morning. The demon slayers told me that you were in mourning, so I figured that you and Shippo could use some time by yourselves. Don't forget that I'm at least partially trained too, Arashi. I can help take care of the shrine if you need more time in mourning. Don't force yourself or anything." She stood up gracefully, slipping the sword in the belt she always wore. When she came to this world, she always wore the same red pants as I, but her father's armor, and we both carried our swords the same way. We looked very much like sisters, but I was staring at her. "What is it?"

"You… you came here _yesterday_? Kaede… I sealed the well yesterday."

"Oh." She looked confused a moment, and then it dawned on her. "You _sealed_ it before I got here, right?" she asked hopefully, though her face fell when I shook my head. She had not been able to break through the well. She had not been strong enough to make it through the well and my wards. She had come here before I had cast the ritual.

"Undo it!" she ordered, the slightest hint of panic in her voice.

I shook my head. "I don't know how, Kaede."

"So…" she said, swallowing hard. "I'm stuck here in the feudal era…"

"Yes," I replied gently, swallowing. "It seems that you are."

* * *

-Sango and Miroku's story will be continued in 'Comrade in Arms'

-As for Kissaki and Kaede-chan…. I have to write their story still, but as a temporary title, I think I might call it 'Duty and Honor'. Or vice versa! ::smiles::

-Oh, and please, remember that all like all evil…er, _good_ geniuses, I have a master plan… Even if I don't know what it is yet!


End file.
